The Boy Who Survived
by PumpkinSparks8616
Summary: Lily Evans had lived a blessed life but when Voldemort attacks the Potters Harry's twin is mistakenly declared the boy-who-lived she gives Harry to the Dursleys to protect Ethan without her husband's consent, eleven years later he has to adjust to a life outside of his cupboard. How will he cope? SLASH. HPDM, RLSB
1. The Boy Who Lived

Chapter One – The-Boy-Who-Lived

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

**WARNINGS: SLASH: HPDM, RLSB, SSJP. MENTIONS OF ABUSE AND NONCON. ANY OTHER WARNINGS WILL BE IN THE TOP OF THE CHAPTERS!**

Lily Evans had lived an enchanted life, she had wonderful parents who supported her and her sister in everything they did, she had a huge house with a big back garden, and she had had a best friend who was just like her! He could do magic too. Her life had only got better when she received her Hogwarts letter, it was proof that she and Severus weren't making up ridiculous games like Petunia claimed.

In the first years at Hogwarts only James Potter and his friends (aside from Remus who was the sweetest boy) ruined the experience, but she had Severus to help get through it all. Then in fifth year she had fallen in love with James Potter and though Severus wouldn't talk to her for it she refused to give up on her first love just because Severus didn't like him.

After Hogwarts they had married and she had had two perfect twin boys. They were wonderful children. Ethan was loud and boisterous while Harry, sweet little Harry was quiet and docile and smaller than his twin due to Ethan taking more nutrients in the womb but everyone could see how much the boys loved each other even at eighteen months old.

The only thing that dampened her perfect life then was Voldemort, they had to go into hiding because one of her boys could be the reason for the downfall of the Dark Lord, well it was either them or Neville Longbottom. They had chosen Peter as their secret keeper because no one would expect it. Or so they thought.

* * *

><p>It was a quiet night; both boys were down for the night. James had been called to an Order meeting. Lily was reading the Prophet, more and more Muggleborn attacks had been happening, she swallowed the lump in her throat and put the paper down rubbing her hand over her eyes. She just wanted all of this to end. She placed the paper down and made her way to bed checking in on her boys as she went. They were both sleeping peacefully.<p>

She was making her way to her bedroom when a loud crash startled her into awareness. A bright flash of red light lit up the stairs, without thinking she ran into her sons' room. Within a minute the Dark Lord himself was in the room, her eyes widened however when she saw who was at his side.

"Peter!" She gasped and the rat just smirked at her.

"Now, now dear Lily. Surely you realise what must happen. Hand over your sons and you will stay alive. I shall even allow you to breed again with your disgrace of a husband." The thin twisted smile on Voldemort's face made her shudder and she glared at him lifting her wand into a duelling position. Only James and Sirius had ever been able to beat her at duelling. Voldemort just laughed and cast_ expelliarmus_. Her wand flew from her hand and she gasped at the sheer force with which it left, the power was like nothing she had ever felt before. Within the next moment Voldemort hit her with _petrificus totalus_ and she fell to the floor her eyes still wide in horror as she froze in place.

Voldemort smirked once again and walked over to the two boys. Both of which had woken at this point. The larger child was screaming and crying at the top of his lungs whereas the small one just watched him. Lily tried to struggle against the curse but to no avail.

"I'll get rid of the loud one first, and then the other and then I'll kill you." He hissed. "_Avada Kedavra!"_

What happened next no one could have expected. A shield of pure white magic surrounded the crying baby in a cocoon. The green curse rebounded off of it and was directed right back to its sender. Pettigrew shrieked as his Master crumbled to dust and his soul screamed an ear piercing scream as it was sucked out of the body, the dark mass swirled around the room once, it swept over her boys and she heard Harry cry out, her baby Harry but then it seemed to collapse in on itself and with an ear piercing scream it vanished. Pettigrew shifted into his animagus form and scurried away.

Lily gasped, Ethan, he was the 'power the dark lord knew not'. He was the boy-who-lived. She longed to go to her sons and pick them up but she knew she would have to wait for someone to come and release her. What she failed to see however, was the tiny hand that gripped the older twin's ankle, the hand that the power was flowing from.

Exhausted Harry fell asleep, letting the magic cease. He ignored his twin's cries, his Mother's struggles and the scar which had formed on his forehead.

* * *

><p>"Lily you have to think it through. It's the best thing for both of your sons." Dumbledore was using his best coaxing voice. Lily was thinking about it, that was the most heart-breaking thing. Ethan had been declared the boy-who-lived and Dumbledore, convinced that the Dark Lord would be back wanted her to allow him to be trained. But in order to do so he wanted her to give up her other son, Harry had a scar on his forehead from when the soul had tried to get to him but it couldn't be removed as he hadn't been protected by Ethan's magic. Harry would always be a target; the two brothers were so close; he would be the first tool used against Ethan. She knew what she had to do.<p>

"James will never agree with it." She whispered her eyes glancing to the crib which had been summoned for the two boys. Ethan was playing with a magical dragon letting it fly around him in circles while Harry sat watching his brother.

"He does not have to." Dumbledore declared. "Under the old blood-magic laws it only takes a mother's consent to give up a child. But even then it would not be forever, just until the boys are old enough to enter Hogwarts."

Lily nodded. She looked at the document Dumbledore wanted her to sign, it would declare that she entrusted her son to carers who would look over him until the age of eleven. She took the quill up in a shaking hand and signed the paper. Then unable to look at her youngest son she picked up Ethan ignoring his screams and yells for 'Hawy'. She took him away, leaving the younger twin to stare after her and his brother.

Dumbledore smiled in relief, there was no way that Ethan could be trained properly with Harry being a distraction towards him, it was better to separate them now before even more heartbreak had to happen.

He wrapped the younger twin into a blanket, placed the prewritten letter within the folds and apparated, the Hogwarts' wards allowing him to pass through them from his office only, he apparated to a little suburban village. All of the houses were whitewashed and had the same general style, the gardens were perfectly kept and all of them looked pristine. He walked to a specific one of these houses and placed the now sleeping child on the doorstep. Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging.

The child would be a distraction to his brother no more.


	2. The Boy Who Cooked

Chapter Two – The-Boy-Who-Cooked

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

Harry awoke from his strange dream of a woman taking a copy of his self away, he frowned, he didn't like that dream. He soon forgot about it however because as usual to the loud footsteps on the staircase above him, the clogging feeling of dust in his lungs. He didn't know how it could be that they still had dust left to fall after all of these years but they did. He could tell the different footsteps from habit. Uncle Vernon's slow halting step which made him flinch when it stopped in front of his door, Dudley's faster but still heavy steps, which stopped above him and jumped three times. Then Aunt Petunia's light almost-silent steps.

The door to his cupboard was ripped open and the pinched, unhappy look on his Aunt's face greeted him. He was pulled from the cupboard and shoved into the kitchen, he felt his way around the kitchen, preparing breakfast from memory; the Dursleys liked having the same thing every day. First was Uncle Vernon's and Dudley's bacon, next the eggs, while those cooked he cut a grapefruit in half and sprinkled it with a small amount of sugar from Aunt Petunia. The smell of the grapefruit always made his nose wrinkle but he hid it from the family.

Once their breakfasts were done, Aunt Petunia dragged him up to the bathroom. He was allowed in there on his own while they ate, he didn't have long. He quickly used the toilet, brushed his teeth with his finger and some toothpaste, then washed quickly with a cloth. Just as he was pulling his top back over his head Aunt Petunia came back. She dragged him downstairs and told him his chores for the day.

Then he was left alone, Uncle Vernon went to work, Aunt Petunia went shopping and Dudley went to school. Harry didn't need to go to school, he wouldn't ever need to learn how to read or write and what good was maths when the only numbers you needed to know were measurements for cooking and he knew them well enough by memory.

Once he finished his chores, he did them again. He couldn't look like he was doing nothing when they came home or he was sure to get hurt by either his Aunt or Uncle, he hoped it would be his Aunt. Uncle Vernon's punishments hurt more.

He allowed himself at midday to have a quick slice of bread and an apple which Aunt Petunia had left him. Then after a drink of water, making sure to wash the glass and put it back exactly the same he carried on with his re-doing of the chores.

When Aunt Petunia came back home first he was sent to his cupboard without a punishment and he lay on the mattress there waiting to be called out to cook dinner. An hour before Uncle Vernon came home he was dragged out of the cupboard again and he made dinner. Today it was spaghetti bolognaise, which he was good at making. His mouth watered as he made it but he ignored it, he knew that if he even tried to sneak any Aunt Petunia would see and he would get a punishment. He was shoved back into his cupboard with another slice of bread and a glass of water. Before they all went to bed he was allowed out again to go to the toilet then he was put back in his cupboard.

He lay for a long time awake as he stared at the ceiling where the spiders made their webs. He didn't mind. He liked the spiders. He hadn't used to, they had used to scare him but now it was okay, they were just like him trapped in the cupboard. He fell asleep waiting for the next day to start exactly the same way.

* * *

><p>Harry awoke with a start at a loud noise from the front door. He frowned, had he overslept, no that wasn't possible Aunt Petunia would have woken him. He sat up and frowned as he heard the bolt slide closed on his door. He was only locked in when they had guests, he glanced at the clock, it was only eight in the morning, on a Saturday he should have been able to sleep for another two hours at least. He could hear raised voices but he couldn't hear what they were saying muffled by the door as they were.<p>

Then so suddenly that he was left blinking in shock the door to his cupboard flew off. He shrunk back, Uncle Vernon must really be angry to do that much damage. However it wasn't Uncle Vernon who looked into the cupboard. It was a skinny man with a long slim face with a single scar down one cheek; he had pale skin and light brown hair. His eyes, were the scariest thing about him though, they were golden, like an animal. This face was joined by an even pointier one, paler than the first with long black hair tied back behind his ears in a style Harry had never seen on a man before but then again he had never seen such skinny men before.

"Hello Harry." That gave him cause for concern also, he had never heard someone speak like that to him before. It was soft and gentle like Aunt Petunia's when she spoke to Dudley only less sweet and sickly. He had only ever once met someone outside of the Dursleys and that had not been good, one of Petunia's friends had dropped by unannounced when he had been doing his chores. The fact that he had been seen had led to him getting a beating from Uncle Vernon that night that he still shuddered to remember.

"You probably don't remember us cub." The lighter one said smiling another thing which made Harry wince, Uncle Vernon always smiled when he played the 'good boy' game. Harry hated that game it was worse than any beatings. The skinny people looked to each other with worry, Harry knew that look it was the one Aunt Petunia gave Dudley when he had the chicken pox (though Harry had been left to itch through them himself) or when Uncle Vernon had been close to losing his job. "I'm Remus and this is Sirius."

Harry knew that with normal people they told their name back but these people already knew his name so he just nodded.

"Do you know what today is?" The darker one, Sirius asked. Harry shook his head, he tried to think he really did, but today wasn't anything. "It's your birthday."

Harry frowned in confusion, he didn't have a birthday, he was sure of that. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon did. Dudley even had a half-birthday in the middle of his actually birthday but he didn't have one he was absolutely sure.

"You're eleven today." Remus said holding out his hand. "We're here to take you home."

Harry's frown deepened, wasn't this his home. Why would they take him from his cupboard just to put him back in? He didn't understand.

"Harry, when you were little your parents put you here to keep you safe from bad people. We're here to take you back to them." Remus explained Harry just stared, while inside he was trying to sort out all of the lies these people were telling him. His home was here, his parents had abandoned him, not left him there to stay safe, that's what Aunt Petunia had always told him.

"Can you come out?" Sirius asked, it was then that Harry noticed the white knuckles around the stick the man had in his hand. Harry knew the signs of anger. He made sure to know them so he could prepare himself for punishment; this man was angry at him and was trying to get him out. He looked to the other man at his hands, he had no stick in them but he was clenching them so hard that Harry was sure the nails must be digging in to his palm. He knew though, he knew that if he did what they said they would be less angry and less likely to hurt him badly. They backed up as he left the cupboard. To his surprise though they both smiled at him when he came out.

He looked around. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were against the wall glaring at the two men. Dudley was cowering on the stairs. A hand on his shoulder made him jump, Remus led him outside and Harry blinked as he came into the sunlight, he couldn't remember the last time he had been outside. Petunia had never wanted him to be seen by the neighbors. His eyes began to hurt so he closed them for a minute. He allowed himself to be led into a darker alleyway at the end of the street and when there they waited, Harry assumed for the other man.

"He won't be long." Remus seemed to be trying to make Harry feel better but it wasn't working, he didn't know where he was or why he was going but he refused to ask, asking questions was always bad. Soon Sirius appeared, seeming red in the face and his hand was clenched even tighter around the stick in his hand. "Okay?"

Sirius nodded stiffly and he wrapped his arm around Remus' waist, they both put their hands on his shoulders and he frowned wondering what they were doing but he wasn't able to wonder for long as suddenly the feeling of being pressed through a long thin tube hit him. He might have screamed but he wasn't sure. Even more suddenly it stopped. He stumbled but their hands kept him from fainting.

He swayed as he looked around, they were in a village near a castle on a hill. Before anything else could happen to him he swooned and fell backwards in a dead faint.


	3. The Boy Who Cried

Chapter Three – The-Boy-Who-Cried

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

When Harry woke up he thought he was dreaming. He opened his eyes to find a face exactly the same as his own looking down at him. He closed his eyes shaking his head to clear the image, when he opened his eyes though the same face was staring down at him.

"Hello." Harry didn't remember opening his mouth to say anything. "I'm Ethan."

Why he would say that he didn't know, that wasn't his name, he didn't even know anyone called Ethan. He sat up slowly and looked around, he was in a white room with lots of beds. The face he discovered wasn't his own but it belonged to someone who looked like him only bigger and taller and more tanned.

"I know you must be excited to see me as I am you, you're the best birthday present ever!" The boy said grinning at him. Harry frowned, the boy was wrong, he wasn't excited, he was scared and confused and worried about where he was and what he was doing here.

The sound of a door opening drew his attention and they both turned to see a man who again looked like them come in. Harry felt like he was going to faint again. Did everyone in this world look like him? But no, this man didn't have his colour eyes.

"Hello Harry." The man's voice was soft but strained, like he had a bad cold or something, Harry felt sympathy for him, he had had a cold once, it was horrible. "I'm…I'm James Potter."

"Okay." He murmured quietly before he could stop it the question came from his lips. "Why does everyone look like me?"

A surprised look crossed across both of their faces before the man chuckled nervously.

"Well you look like me because you're my son." Harry stared at the man unnervingly.

"Oh." He finally said.

"And I look like you because you're my twin and twins always look the same, my friend Ron has brothers who are twins and they look exactly the same, you and I don't though because you're so much smaller than me!" Ethan exclaimed. An angry look flitted across James' face as Ethan said this and Harry winced, expecting either Ethan or him to get cuffed for his comment but James instead seemed to collapse in on himself, he fell into a chair next to the bed and ran his hands over his face.

"Where are the men who came to get me?" Harry asked before he could stop himself, he had so many questions he was bursting at the seams.

"You mean Remus and Sirius?" Ethan asked and Harry nodded. "They're speaking to Dumbledore at the moment. They didn't seem happy when they brought you back, were the people you were staying with not nice?"

Harry frowned, of course they were nice, they had taken him in after all and they fed him and gave him clothes (even if they were Dudley's cast offs). They only ever hit him when he did something wrong and Uncle Vernon only played the 'good boy' game to make him better. Before he could speak up a woman came in. She was very strange looking. The only woman Harry had seen was Aunt Petunia who was a very pointy straight woman. This woman was plump and curvy and she worse a strange dress with a funny hat.

"Ah it's good to see you awake dear." The woman said smiling brightly at him and Harry nodded slowly. "Ethan honey, you're going to have to leave for a little bit while I talk to your Dad and Harry."

Ethan pouted but nodded and ran from the room. Instantly the smiling face of the woman disappeared to form a worried upset face. Harry didn't like it, these people changed how they looked so quickly.

"Harry dear, we need you to tell us about what your Aunt and Uncle did to you. We need what's called a statement so they can get charged with hurting you." The woman said and Harry noticed in the corner of his eye James clenching his fists.

"Um…" Harry didn't know what to say, Uncle Vernon had always said never to tell anyone about his punishments and even Aunt Petunia didn't know about the 'good boy' game. Instead he said what had been ingrained into him from his first memory. "They took me in, fed me, clothed me, gave me a roof over my head, I'm very grateful to them."

The woman's lips pressed together and the James' hands clenched tighter before relaxing purposefully. The man reached out and took Harry's own into his hand, Harry felt tiny then, the man's hands were much bigger than his own, but they weren't as big as Uncle Vernon's.

"Harry, what those…those _people_ did to you was wrong. No matter what they told you, a child should never _ever_ be hit for anything." James said softly and Harry flinched away, of course he should have been hit, it was a punishment, but at least they didn't know about the 'good boy' game, Uncle Vernon would be less angry when he got sent back. He shook his head. "Harry… we know that they hit you, Madam Pomfrey here has healed all of your bruises and the cuts, but we need you to tell us so we can get them put away."

Harry shook his head, angry at himself as tears burned his eyes, only babies cried, he shouldn't be crying.

"Harry, they never hurt Dudley did they." James said and Harry looked up in surprise.

"No Dudley was a good boy." He exclaimed, before realising what he had admitted to, he pressed his hand to his mouth and glared down at his legs under the blankets. He gasped as James pulled him into a tight hug, he froze completely, no one had ever hugged him, he had seen it done of course but it still terrified him. Thankfully James let go soon. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips before calling James over to speak to her privately in her office.

Harry stared at the door for a while before the door opened once more and a woman ran in, she had long red hair, pale skin and bright green eyes. She ran over as soon as her eyes met his, he then realised that she had the same eyes as him. She quickly pulled him to her chest.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry! I never thought…I had no idea that they would…" The woman collapsed into tears over Harry, he panicked. He froze up completely and began to hyperventilate but the woman didn't notice. The door to the office opened and Madam Pomfrey came out followed by James, as soon as he saw the woman a thunderous glare came across his face.

"What are you doing here! Haven't you done enough?" He yelled causing Harry to flinch.

"James-love, you're scaring Harry." The woman said softly.

"And you condemned him to live with abuse for ten years!" James shouted the rage building in his face. It was interrupted when the door opened once again and the two men who had brought him came into the room followed by Ethan. Both of the men's expressions darkened at the sight of the woman. Harry didn't know what she had done but it must have been horrible. Ethan ran over to his twin and grinned at him, beginning to tell him things which Harry couldn't have listened to if he tried.

"Lily, I think you should leave." Remus said and once again his eyes scared Harry, he was like an animal.

The woman, Lily glared at all of them.

"You have no right to take me away from my son." She snapped and Ethan frowned at the conflict, he didn't seem used to people fighting around him.

"You have no right to see him after you signed away your parental rights! _My_ parental rights!" James yelled at her. "Get out!"

Lily stood her head held high.

"I only did what I did out of love for my sons. You can't stop me from seeing him forever." She hissed before leaving the room with an angry stamp. Instantly everyone stopped looking angry and instead looked tired. James once more sat in the chair by Harry's bed. Remus and Sirius moved over to stand next to it.

"Hey kiddo, you feeling better?" Sirius asked and it was that question which broke Harry. He collapsed into tears, uncaring of the fact that only babies cried, he was scared, of all of these people, of the woman who had done something wrong, of the boy who looked like him, of the place he didn't know. He was overwhelmed.

"Harry, it's okay. Harry, please stop crying." His twin climbed onto the bed and hugged him, Harry tensed and this time he pulled away. Why did everyone keep touching him? Ethan looked upset that he couldn't hug his twin when he was so used to touching everyone, he knew that his twin had been hurt and that he was scared. He only wanted to help.

Harry wrapped his arms around his legs and curled into as small a ball as possible. He just wanted to go back to his cupboard. He didn't like it here. Everyone was too confusing. When he had no more tears to cry he wiped his face hurriedly and slowly uncurled from his position. Everyone was still there. Ethan was sat in front of him cross-legged on the bed and as soon as he saw Harry was finished he moved closer, so he wasn't touching him but Harry could feel his body heat. Harry found himself surprisingly grateful for the gesture.

"Don't worry Harry. You're home now, you don't have to worry about anyone ever hurting you again. I'll make sure they don't!" The way Ethan promised that made something in Harry unfurl and he once again found himself crying, only this time he found his way into his twin's arms and he cried into the bigger boy's shoulder.


	4. The Boy Who Shopped

Chapter Four – The-Boy-Who-Shopped

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

Harry had never had such a confusing week in all of his life. He had been deemed okay to leave the Hospital Wing as they called it and had been staying in a room with his brother, which to his ears still sounded a stranger term. Ethan though loved the fact that he had a brother and he doted on the poor boy who had no idea what to do with the attention.

With the Dursleys everyday had been the same, get up, make breakfast, do chores, make dinner, go to sleep. Here he had no idea what would come next. The first day he had tried to just clear the plate they had given him filled with food away and instantly everyone had said that there were house elves to do that. Harry had no idea what a house elf was but he decided he didn't want to know.

The next day Ethan had showed him around what Harry had realised to be the castle he had seen before he had fainted. He said it was a school but since it was summer no one else was there, he also told Harry that they didn't normally live here; it was just because they had taken him to the Hospital Wing.

The most confusing and astounding thing however was magic, he had been told from a very young age that magic didn't exist, of course it didn't, there was no proof otherwise, until now. Now Harry was overwhelmed by talking portraits, ghosts, wands (which were the sticks that everyone held) Harry had even been told about potions, though he wasn't allowed into the dungeons where they were made, neither was Ethan. Apparently he had to learn how to do magic. That scared him the most, he had never done magic before, how was he supposed to know how to do what they asked him.

Today, they were going shopping, or so he had been told. He wasn't really sure why he needed to go shopping but apparently they had to get stuff to go to school and Ethan was so excited at the prospect that Harry couldn't bring himself to actually disappoint the boy and tell him that he didn't go to school. They went through a fireplace to get there, which took a lot of convincing on Ethan's part to get Harry to step into the flames in the first place.

Remus and Sirius were taking them since James had to go to a meeting. The first shop they went to was a clothes shop but it was not what he had imagined from Aunt Petunia's comments on them that he caught sometimes. There were floating ribbons and cloths. Men and women alike were in the shop getting measured.

"Ah Remus, Sirius! It's been much too long!" An extremely large woman bundled over to them, her wand swinging about as she did so. She ushered them over to a podium and Harry told Ethan he could go first, mainly so he would know what to expect. Ethan jumped up and instantly a measuring tape flew around Ethan, he heard Madam Malkin, the large woman's name, mumbling certain numbers.

Once Ethan jumped down, Harry cautiously made his way up and Madam Malkin smiled brightly to him, he didn't relax however because as soon as he was up higher he could see the large amount of people watching him in curiosity. He shifted uncomfortably but soon she was done with the measurements, Remus and Sirius told her what they would need and they left the shop, Harry unconsciously drifting closer to Ethan as more and more people noticed him.

"W-Why…Why are they staring?" He whispered and Ethan frowned.

"Oh, that's just because of me, well I guess it's you as well since they've never seen you before." Ethan said shrugging. "Just ignore them, they'll eventually stop."

Harry tried to do what Ethan said but he could still feel the stares on the back of his neck. The next shop they went to was a bookstore. Harry took a deep breath and his eyes widened as he realised where they were. He froze in the doorway.

"What's wrong cub?" Remus asked gently, Harry shook his head and forced his feet to move and follow Ethan. He made sure to pick up the same books that Ethan was. Ethan realised what Harry was doing and he picked up a book that wasn't on what the list of compulsory books. Harry picked it up too and Ethan frowned.

"Harry, why don't you choose a book you want just to read." Ethan asked and a look of panic crossed his twin's face. Harry nodded hiding his worry behind a mask. He picked up a random book hoping that it didn't make him look like an idiot. Ethan's eyebrows rose as he saw the book Harry had picked. "I didn't know that you were interested in Divination? What do you like best about it?"

Harry froze. He had no idea what Divination was. His breathing picked up and his knuckles turned white from how hard he was gripping the book. Remus and Sirius noticed the commotion and walked over, Remus knelt in front of Harry.

"Harry, what's wrong. You can tell us anything you know that." Harry nodded, they had told him this a lot over the last week, so had James. He didn't want them to know he couldn't read, they'd send him away and he didn't want to go back. He liked Ethan and James wasn't so bad when he wasn't angry or sad. He was still wary around Remus and Sirius. Harry's eyes glanced between them biting his lip.

"Please tell us kiddo, we won't be mad." Sirius said, Harry looked to Ethan who nodded earnestly.

"I-I can't read." Harry whispered, shock flitted across their faces and Harry hid his face behind his bangs.

"Oh Harry." Remus wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulder, Harry tensed but didn't shrug Remus off. "Is that why you've been so worried? Don't worry we'll teach you and before you know it you'll be able to read and write like the best of them."

Tears filled Harry's eyes as he realised that they wouldn't send him back to the Dursleys. He sniffed and wiped his eyes on the long sleeve of the shirt of Ethan's that they had shrunk for him. Remus smiled at him and used his thumb to wipe away a lasting tear.

Once they had finished buying the books, Ethan telling Harry what all of them were called and what they were about, they made their way to get ice cream. Harry had never even heard of half of the flavours they had there so he just ended up having the same as Ethan. As he sat in the shade he noticed that the bridge of his nose hurt as did his cheeks where the bones stuck out. He haltingly told Remus who looked him over critically.

"It seems Harry that you have a sunburn, I'm surprised we didn't notice sooner. I mean, this is your first proper time out in the sun and it is August after all." Remus said, he pursed his lips thinking about what to do. Sirius grinned and waved his wand, his ice cream transformed into a gigantic sun hat with a large brim.

"How about this?" He asked his grin widening as Ethan laughed loudly. Harry smiled slightly and the look on Sirius' face when he did made him smile slightly wider. "Is that a smile I see? I never thought I'd see the day! Ai Moony?"

Remus laughed and hit Sirius across the arm. Harry found that the smile was quiet hard to drop and continued to smile throughout their ice cream. Harry watched curiously as a strange ringing sound came from Sirius' pocket. He took out a mirror and grinned at what he saw there, Harry frowned in confusion, not understanding what was so great about a mirror.

"Yeah they're great!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed and Harry tilted his head in wonder, was Sirius on about his teeth or his eyes, maybe his eyebrows. Ethan noticed Harry's look and giggled.

"Yeah Uncle Sirius is just really vain!" He laughed and Sirius glared at him.

"I am not vain." He said sticking his tongue out at his godson before turning to the younger of the two to explain. "This is like what the muggles call a feletone." He exclaimed proudly.

"You mean a telephone Sirius." Remus rolled his eyes.

"That's what I said!" Sirius cried before tucking the mirror back into his pocket. They finished their ice cream and made their way back out into the sun, Remus casting a mild protective charm over Harry's face.

"Can we go get our wands now? Please, please!" Ethan begged and Sirius bit his lip glancing around the street.

"How about we go get your potion stuff first then we can leave the best bit till last!" Sirius cried and before Ethan could protest he was dragging him down the street leaving Harry and Remus behind.

"I guess we should follow them." Remus sighed smiling at Harry and Harry smiled tentatively back. They followed at a more sedate pace and soon enough they had all of the potions equipment they could ever need. Sirius however seemed to be stalling as they walked to the wand shop which was at the other end of the street.

"Hey wait up!" Ethan spun at the sound of their Father's voice. His mouth dropped at what he saw. Harry, seeing Ethan's expression turned and his eyes widened also as he saw the two owls, one in each of his Father's hands. Ethan dragged Harry forwards.

"Are they ours?" Ethan whispered in awe.

"Of course." James said grinning at his son. He held out the eagle owl to Ethan and the snowy owl to Harry. "You can even name them."  
>Harry carefully took the cage in his arms. The owl was beautiful, a brilliant creamy white flecked with black. Her amber eyes glinted as they looked at him, she hooted before shuffling her head and closing her eyes as if tired with the company. He smiled at her and reached through the bars to stroke her feathers.<p>

"Well Harry… do you like her?" James looked nervous. Harry nodded earnestly, he really loved her, she was amazing.

"Thank you." He whispered and a bright smile lit up James' face, he looked like he wanted to hug his younger son and Harry noticing this look, it had taken him a while to interpret it but he bit his lip before hugging the tall man quickly. James stood frozen himself until Sirius hit him over the head. He glared at his best friend before grinning like a fool and not wanting to overwhelm Harry he grabbed Ethan around the waist running them over to the wand shop. Remus laughed loudly as Sirius quickly followed after.

"Looks like it's only me and you who're the sane ones here cub." He laughed and Harry smiled back, he thought that he could get used to Remus' sense of humour.

The wand shop was called Ollivander's. Harry walked in and looked at all of the boxes on the walls and wondered how many wands were actually there. Ethan though was practically jumping up and down in excitement. Remus and Sirius laughed at him as a grey old man with misty silver eyes appeared at the front of the shop. He smiled at the older twin's enthusiasm.

"I think I know the perfect wand for you Master Potter." The old man chuckled, Ethan and Harry placed their owls onto the counter and waited for Ollivander to come back. He came back with a long box in his hand.

He handed it over to Ethan who immediately opened it and gave the wand a wave, his hair blew back as if by a strong wind and sparks flew from the end of the wand.

"Whoa." He gasped.

"Oak, twelve inches, dragon heart-string core." Ollivander said and Harry had no idea what that meant but it sounded cool. "A similar wand to that of your Father's good for transfiguration and offensive spells."

"Cool." Ethan yelled instantly waving the wand around causing sparks to fly from the end until Remus, ever the smart one took the wand away and told Ethan that he didn't want to cause a fire on his first day with it. Ethan nodded sheepishly and took the wand back.

Ollivander turned his misty eyes onto Harry then, Harry noticed them flit up to the scar on his forehead and he raised an eyebrow.

"I have a few wands I'd like you to try first Master Potter." He said taking a few boxes down. He laid them out in order and motioned for Harry to take one. Harry took the palest wand and gave it a small wave. He flinched as one of the walls of shelves fell to the floor. His eyes widened and he dropped the wand back into its box.

"I'm sorry." He cried and Ollivander just chuckled.

"No worries young man I've had worse done." He waved his own wand and muttered something, the shelves sorted themselves back out and the boxes flew back into place. Harry cautiously picked up the next wand and waved it in an even smaller arch this time.

This time it shattered the glass windows. It was James who fixed them this time.

"Maybe I'm not meant to have a wand." He said backing away from the other wands.

"Nonsense, of course you are if you are able to produce that much of a ruckus, you need a wand to properly channel your magic down." Ollivander paused and held up a hand. "I'll be right back."

He wandered to the back of the shop, he came back with an old looking box. He laid it down on the counter and Harry very gently took the wand from its case. Instantly it was as if the wand jumped in his hand and a shock of something ran up his arm. His eyes closed as it rushed throughout his whole being.

When he opened his eyes again he saw a smile on Ollivander's face.

"That wand will do you well Master Potter in the years to come." He said mysteriously but he didn't say what it was made from which made Harry frown. "Yes, very well indeed. 11 inches long, made of holly, with a phoenix feather as its core. Very good."

Harry smiled his thanks at the wand maker and rubbed his fingers down the smooth polish of the wand, it let out a shower of sparks at the touch and his smile widened. James also bought them wand harnesses which they both strapped to their arms and hid their wands up their sleeves.

Harry by this point was exhausted, his eyes were dropping as they walked and carrying his owl didn't help.

"Harry, Remus is going to carry your owl okay?" Harry nodded and felt the cage get taken from his arms. It was after he almost stumbled in his tiredness that James made a decision. "Harry, is it okay if I carry you?"

Harry's eyes widened, he hadn't been carried by anyone that he could remember. It took a minute but eventually he nodded. James lifted him carefully but easily into his arms due to his small size, Ethan was getting too big to be carried. Harry gradually let the rocking of James' steps lull him into a state of half sleep. They 'flooed' back to Hogwarts with Harry in his Father's arms, shocked awake by the green flames but he soon fell back asleep.

* * *

><p>Harry stared at the squiggly lines on the page with unveiled panic. The book that Remus had decided to start on was <em>A History of Magic<em> since it would help him in more ways than one. Remus was in the kitchen making a cup of tea before they started. He came back into the room to see Harry gently running a finger down the page.

"You ready?" Remus asked and Harry nodded though he could see his hand shaking when he brought it back to his lap. "The first thing that we should look at is the alphabet."

Remus moved the book away and pulled a sheet of paper and a quill towards him. He wrote out both in upper case and lower case the alphabet. Then he gave Harry a quill and the paper.

"Okay now, I've got a self-inking pen because it's easier to use." Remus said showing Harry how to hold the quill. Harry looked closely at the first symbol and tried to copy it but it was a fuzzy shape and he couldn't quite see how to make the shape with his movements. He frowned at the shape and compared it to the other one; it looked sort of like a triangle. He then tried to draw the next one, it ended up as two circles and Harry was proud, this looked the same. "Harry does that look similar to you?"

Harry bit his lip, he thought it did. But obviously it didn't.

"It's okay Harry, don't worry about it, we just need a little bit more practise." However, two hours later and Harry was no closer to learning the alphabet and he could tell that Remus' patience was failing. There was knock at the door and Sirius' head appeared grinning widely.

"How goes the reading?" He asked and it was at the question that Harry threw down the quill and ran from the room. He knew his way around Hogwarts well enough by now that he didn't have to worry about getting lost (like he had a few times). Instead he ran until he reached a small alcove where he knew no one would look for him. It was tiny and he could barely fit into it but it reminded him of his cupboard which had been the only place in the Dursley's that Vernon couldn't fit into.

He pulled his knees to his chest but was surprised when not a few minutes later Sirius and Remus appeared, a piece of parchment in Remus' hand.

"Hey kiddo, I didn't mean anything bad by what I said." Sirius said kneeling down and Harry frowned.

"How did you know where I was?" He whispered. Remus showed him the map and explained how they had created it in their Marauding Days. Harry nodded and shifted further into the alcove.

"It's okay if you don't understand the letters straight away Cub. You'll get it eventually." Remus said gently but Harry shook his head before hiding his face in his knees.

"I won't! All the letters look the same, they're just fuzzy lines! They don't mean anything!" Harry yelled, his voice muffled by his trousers. He didn't see the two men share a look between them.

"Harry, when you look at other things do they look blurry to you?" Sirius asked and Harry shrugged. "I think you need to come to see Madam Pomfrey with us kiddo, you might need glasses."

Harry didn't want to go to Madam Pomfrey, he didn't like the white room and he didn't need everyone to know that he couldn't read. Remus bit his lip and whispered something to Sirius who nodded before taking the map and running down the corridor.

"Cub, will you look at me? Please Cub." Remus said softly.

"Why do you call me that?" Harry asked lifting his face so Remus could see his wet cheeks and glittering eyes. Remus was caught off guard by the question.

"I just…it's what I've always called you, just like I've always called Ethan Pup. It's my nickname for you. It's what I called you when you were born." Remus explained and Harry's tears seemed to stream faster down his cheeks.

"You were t-there when I was bo-born?" He whimpered and Remus nodded. "Why did Ethan get to stay here? Wasn't I good enough?"

Remus gasped as Harry said that, none of them had wanted to explain what had happened to Harry and he realised they had left it too long. He moved closer to the alcove and reached it just resting his hand on Harry's arm.

"That's not it at all Cub. I promise. We all loved you a lot, just as much as Ethan. We never wanted you to go away." He said desperately before deciding that Harry needed to hear the truth. "Harry, when you and Ethan were very young there was a very bad man who was hurting lots of people. He wanted to hurt you and Ethan and when he came to the house Ethan protected himself with magic. This made him very special but it didn't make us love him more than you. But… do you remember the woman who came to the Hospital Wing?" Harry nodded. "She's your Mother and she was told that you could be used to hurt Ethan."

"I wouldn't hurt Ethan ever!" Harry cried and Remus squeezed his arm gently, reassuringly.

"We know that Cub, but someone could have tried to hurt you to hurt Ethan. So your Mother signed a contract which said that she gave up all rights to see you until you were eleven, because she did that we weren't allowed to see you either or we would have come and got you." Remus said softly.

"Is that why you were all really mad at her?" Harry whispered and Remus nodded.

"We were angry because you were hurt by the people who were meant to look after you and we didn't want you to go away in the first place. We love you Harry." Remus said and Harry's eyes welled up with tears. Slowly he climbed out of the alcove and Remus wrapped his arms around the tiny boy. Harry buried his face in Remus' neck.

"You promise?" He murmured soundly a lot younger than his actual age.

"Of course Harry." Remus said, he heard footsteps running up to him and turned to see Sirius followed by Ethan and James. He handed Harry over to his Father who instantly began to comfort him. "James, I told him."

James looked up in surprise before nodding.

"You all love me?" Harry whispered and James's eyes widened in shock at the question.

"Of course we do Harry, we always have." He said softly, running his fingers through his son's unruly hair. If he hadn't already been divorced from Lily he would have filed for one after that question. "Now, we're going to take you to Madam Pomfrey's. It's not for anything bad, we just think that your eyes may need a little bit of fixing so she's going to fix them up for you okay?"

Harry nodded and smiled down weakly at Ethan who looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Harry was carried to the Hospital Wing where he had his eyes tested and was told he would need glasses since he was too old for the spell they could have cast if his eyes had been checked earlier. Harry even got to pick out the glasses that he wanted, though it was really Ethan who did most of the picking.

"So Harry, are you ready to give reading another shot?" Harry nodded; everything looked so different from before, sharper around the edges. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He followed Remus back to his and Sirius' rooms where he learned the alphabet within half an hour, able to make out the distinct shapes of the letters much easier, something which let loose the ball of tension which had been coiled in his chest in worry that it wasn't his intelligence which had been the problem.

At the end of the day he had managed to read the first sentence of _A History of Magic_ with only a little bit of help.


	5. The Boy Who Became a Slytherin

Chapter Five– The-Boy-Who-became-a-Slytherin

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

Harry's hand was tightly clenched in Ethan's. He had never been in a place so crowded; even when shopping the people had been far enough away that he could have spun around with his arms wide and not hit anyone. They were on a platform, Platform 9 ¾ to be precise. The bright red train had been the first thing to draw his attention as they had been early. All of their things were left at Hogwarts but James had insisted that they take the train as a rite of passage.

Harry and he knew Ethan felt the same, wanted to stay by their Father and Uncles for as long as possible. Finally, they both realised that they had to get on the train if they wanted any chance of an empty compartment. Ethan leapt up and hugged their Father even though they'd be seeing each other in a few hours. Harry let himself be hugged and hesitantly hugged James back before Remus and Sirius patted him on the shoulder knowing he wasn't good with touching yet unless it was by his twin. He had stopped flinching entirely when it came to Ethan.

They managed to find an empty compartment and settled down since it was on the opposite side to the platform. They looked up as the door slid open to reveal a red headed boy. Harry knew from reputation that it was Ron Weasley but he had never met him face to face before.

"Hey Ron, this is my brother Harry. Harry this is Ron." Ethan said grinning and pulling the red head into the compartment. Ron grinned at Harry and waved nervously, Harry gave a small wave back. The train began to move off and Ron and Ethan spent a long time talking about what had gone on in the holidays that they had missed.

Harry, feeling extremely like a third wheel, told Ethan he was going to the toilet and he made his way there slowly when suddenly the train gave a large jolt as it swung around a corner. Harry fell through an opening compartment door and straight into another student. He flinched at the contact and quickly scrambled off of the other boy.

"I'm sorry." He said before realising that the compartment was full of what had to have been first years if the black ties and school robes were anything to go by. He helped the boy he had knocked down up only to be blown away by the boy's looks. He had white blonde hair, pale skin and silver eyes, not like Sirius' greys, full silver eyes. He also was obviously rich, if the silver edging to his robes were anything to go by. He was also watching Harry carefully.

In fact all of the kids looked rich. All of their robes were made of good quality material and they all had an air about them which suggested they were posh. There was only one girl and she must have been the first girl his age that Harry had seen up close. She was strange looking with short cropped hair and a squished nose.

"I think you've stunned him into silence Draco." One of the boys, with dark hair and darker skin laughed his accent different from Harry's own.

"Can I help you?" The beautiful boy, Draco apparently raised an eyebrow at him. Harry flushed a dark red and shook his head making to leave the compartment.

"Oh Draco, let the poor boy in. He's so sweet looking." The girl cooed and Harry bit his lip as the blonde's eyebrow rose higher and seemed to appraise him.

"I suppose he is in a scrawny way." He said before sitting down and one of the two large boys on the opposite side of the compartment moved aside to make room for him.

"I-I…uh, I have to get back to my brother…sorry." He added as an afterthought.

"Don't you know who we are boy?" The boy with the accent asked in a way which made Harry think of the way Aunt Petunia used to speak to him.

"No…sorry. I'm Harry though." He said, hoping the introduction would be enough to quell the boy's temper if he had one. It seemed to work as the boy laughed.

"Blaise Zabini, you must be a Muggleborn if your ignorance is any sign." Harry frowned that sounded like an insult but he couldn't be sure, he was used to people just taking it out on him if they disliked him, this boy seemed sneaky.

"Oi Harry, what's taking so long?" Ethan appeared next to Harry in the compartment and Harry was surprised as an angry look instantly appeared on Ethan's face. Harry glanced cautiously around the compartment as similar looks appeared on the others' faces.

"Already making _mudblood_ friends Potter?" The blonde boy drawled and Ethan practically vibrated with the anger building up inside of him. Harry bit his lip and pressed his hand to Ethan's arm. He wasn't sure what the obvious insult meant but decided he didn't like the anger in his brother.

"I'll have you know _Malfoy_ that this is my brother." Ethan spat and Harry saw the eyebrows in the compartment raise.

"I didn't know the boy-who-lived had a brother. Where's he been all of this time? Shoved into a cupboard?" Harry's face flushed red as the girl's words rang true and he just tugged on Ethan's arm to try and get them out. But Ethan's anger had reached boiling point at the hit which came too close to home. Harry had told Ethan where he had slept in the Dursley's and his twin had been so angry his magic had caused the bedpost of Ethan's bed to explode. Ethan drew his wand and flung it up in the face of the girl who glared but didn't seem worried as all of the boys drew their own wands and pointed them at Ethan.

"Ethan it doesn't matter." Harry murmured pressing Ethan's hand down so his wand was no longer pointing at the girl's face. Ethan just snarled and stormed out of the compartment dragging Harry behind him as he went.

Ethan sat down with such fury that he almost bounced back up again. Harry slowly and carefully sat opposite his twin and let the anger burn away. Ron seemed to realise that this was the best course of action and stayed silent.

"I can't believe Malfoy!" Ethan finally burst out. "Calling you a Mudblood!"

"He did what?" Ron asked astounded and shocked.

"What does it mean?" Harry asked frowning. "It can't be that bad."

"Not that bad! Not that bad! Harry it's a horrible word, it's what pureblood bastards like Malfoy and those other Slytherins use to call people who have muggle parents." Ethan yelled causing Harry to flinch at the volume. Ethan seemed to notice this and he tried to calm himself down but Harry could still see the clenched fists that indicated how angry his twin was. Finally though Ethan just sighed and all of the rage went out of him. "I'm sorry Harry, for getting so angry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Harry nodded and smiled slightly at his brother.

"People like that just make me so angry." Ethan spat and Ron agreed. After that though they put the incident behind them and enjoyed the train journey.

It was night when they reached the castle and they were called by Hagrid to get into the boats, they made their way across the lake and Harry tried to ignore the glares that his boat was getting from the purebloods.

From there they were led by McGonagall who Harry had met last night when she came to the school, into the Great Hall, which by this point was filled with children of all ages. Most of them seemed to recognise Ethan since he was famous after all, though Harry still didn't fully understand why, but whispers broke out as they saw him. Harry looked up at the teachers' table where his Father and Uncles sat. Remus was the charms teacher as someone called Flitwick had retired. James was Transfiguration teacher since Professor McGonagall was taking more time to concentrate on her duties as Deputy-Headmistress and Sirius was the Assisting Quidditch coach.

The sorting began; Harry stared up at the old hat with curiosity. He wondered how the magic of one person could survive so far into the future it could keep an object animated for centuries after the wizard's death.

Harry knew all about the four houses. He also knew that Ethan would be sorted into Gryffindor, the house of Bravery but he wasn't sure where he would go. He knew it wouldn't be Ravenclaw, he couldn't even read a whole chapter of a book without his head hurting but Hufflepuff seemed okay if he wasn't in Gryffindor. He watched as Malfoy and the girl from before were sorted into Slytherin along with the two large boys who had also been in the compartment.

"Potter, Ethan." Ethan hurried up to the stool and sat down; before the hat even touched his head it rang out with Gryffindor's name. Harry smiled as his brother ran down; he knew that was where his brother truly wanted to be.

"Potter, Harry." Harry seemed to freeze up but a nudge from Ron and he made his way up to the stool. He sat down at the hat was placed on his head.

"_Ah, young Master Potter. I've been waiting to meet you for a long time. I can feel your potential, your magic."_ The hat hissed in his ear and Harry bit his lip. "_Ah, you have had a similar childhood to many children in Slytherin. I always think their parents should be sent to that jail but there is nothing I can do alas."_

Harry just listened to the hat's rambling even as whispers broke out among the other students at the time it was taking to sort him.

_"I think Slytherin would be a good house for you." _Harry froze; he wanted to be with his twin. "_Ah, but neither of you will reach your full potential if you constantly lean on each other. You love your twin, yes, but you need to develop your powers further and you won't be able to do that in Gryffindor, yes Slytherin it is."_

"SLYTHERIN!" The whole room seemed to freeze. Harry's eyes widened as the hat was taken off of his head. Slowly he climbed from the stool and made his way through the silence to the Slytherin table. They were all staring at him as if he had just sprouted wings and flown over to their table. The only free seat was next to Malfoy who was watching him carefully.

He sat down and stared at the wooden table. He didn't want to look up and see the look on his Father's face or his Uncles. Or worse Ethan's. He couldn't bare it if his twin began to hate him now, but he knew it was inevitable from the way he had heard Ethan talk about Slytherins. His brother was bound to hate him. Finally people seemed to break out of their stupors and the Sorting finished, with only Blaise Zabini being sorted into Slytherin, he sat opposite Harry and raised an eyebrow but Harry didn't see.

He didn't even listen to Dumbledore as he said they could all eat and the tables groaned as they filled with food. He was a Slytherin. His family, even though they had only been a family for a short time, was going to hate him.


	6. The Boy Who Learnt

Chapter Six– The-Boy-Who-Learned

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

Harry was scared, everyone knew who he was now and no one seemed to like the fact that he was in Slytherin with them. They had all been shown to the Slytherin Common Rooms which were in the dungeons; he had never been down there before, it was dark and closed in and a lot like his cupboard which was more comforting than he had first thought.

"So a Potter as a Slytherin I never thought I'd see the day." A tall, skinny boy with short dark hair sneered and Harry jumped, no one had bothered him as he sat in a lonely armchair tucked away in a corner far away from the heat of the fire. Harry didn't know what to say to him so he just shrugged trying to avoid confrontation. "A halfblood at that."

Harry nodded this time just hoping the boy would go away.

"Oh leave the poor boy alone Adrian." Harry looked up to see his unexpected saviour, the girl from the train. She was standing with her hands on her hips glaring at the taller boy who rolled his eyes at her.

"Honestly Pansy I was only having some fun." Adrian huffed and Harry frowned, wondering why the bigger boy deferred to the tiny girl, although Aunt Petunia had generally been able to control Uncle Vernon and he was more than three times her size.

"Don't mind Adrian, he's a big softy really. I'm Pansy Parkinson; we didn't get to formally meet earlier." She said holding her hand out; Harry took it gently and shook it once before dropping it.

"I'm Harry Potter." He said and she giggled nodding.

"We all know who you are." She laughed. "You're ice cold; do you want to come sit with us?"

Without waiting for an answer she dragged him out of the armchair (apparently ignoring his flinch) and over to where the people from the train were sitting, all of them were there along with a few other first years.

"I've decided that Harry is going to sit with us." She chimed pulling Harry down on the sofa beside her. The other first years gave him a calculating look and he shifted nervously under their gaze. "So Harry, we all want to know why we've never heard of you before."

"Um… I lived with other relatives for protection." Harry said, it was the truth after all. The Slytherins frowned but didn't question him.

"Draco Malfoy." The blonde from earlier held out his hand and Harry took it cautiously, the boy seemed not to like Ethan. "Let's put the train incident behind us."

"Okay." He said softly.

Almost as if Draco's introduction was a signal all of the other first years began to introduce themselves. The two large boys from earlier were Vincent and Gregory but everyone called them Crabbe and Goyle, there were two more girls, more cause for interest. Both were very different from Pansy also. Millicent was quiet large but not fat and she had a square face that wasn't exactly pretty. Daphne was on the other hand tiny, she had long fair hair and pretty blue eyes. She stared at Harry with intense interest as if he were a puzzle she couldn't figure out. There was also another boy Theodore Nott who was skinnier than any of the other boys even Harry, well, he was a lot taller than Harry so it gave him the illusion of being skinnier.

"It's…It's nice to meet you all." Harry said nervously causing Pansy and Daphne to squeal in a strange way which made him jump.

"Oh isn't he the sweetest thing!" Pansy cooed causing Harry to shift away from her slightly.

"Don't worry you get used to her." Blaise said dryly crossing his legs at the ankles and reclining in his chair. Pansy glared at the dark boy before turning back to Harry.

"Time for bed first years!" The prefect Marcus Flint called and slowly the first years climbed to their feet and to the dormitories they had been shown to earlier. Harry sat down on his bed as did the other boys not quite ready to go to bed but not quite awake enough to be sociable. Harry was too worried to sleep. He had no idea how Ethan would react around him tomorrow, and his Father and Uncles. What if they didn't want him anymore since he was a Slytherin.

Eventually he forced himself to get up and changed into his night clothes which he had bought with his school robes. He lay down and let himself sink into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Harry woke quickly, he always did, it was habit and it was always at half past six, as that was the time the Dursley's woke. He remembered where he was abruptly and sat up looking around him. All of the other Slytherin boys were asleep still. Draco and Blaise were very tidy sleepers; their covers of their beds were neat around them. The other boys on the other hand were splayed across the bed, limbs sticking out from every which angle.<p>

He gathered some clothes from his trunk and made his way to the showers, he washed quickly not wanting any of the other boys to see the scars on his back which Madam Pomfrey had been unable to rid him of.

He was just pulling his top over his head when the door opened. He hurriedly pulled it down and looked over to see Draco watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're up early." He said haughtily and Harry nodded.

"Good morning." He said softly and Draco smirked, his eyebrow shooting higher, Harry couldn't help but wonder how he could only lift one, when his eyebrows moved they moved together.

"Good morning." He replied.

Harry made his way out into the dormitories where the other boys were beginning to get up. He made his way down the stairs to the common room where few people were awake, all of whom stared at him when he entered. He quickly made his way out of the room and found himself face to face with his Head of House. Harry started and moved out of the way.

"Mr Potter." Harry looked up to the tall figure of his Professor cautiously.

"Yes Sir." He answered quietly.

"While you are in my House I expect you to act with the dignity and respect that is expected of you." Snape raised an eyebrow and Harry had a moment where he wondered if Snape had taught Draco how to do that. Harry nodded earnestly and Snape gave him another piercing look before walking into the common room. Harry hurried away to the Great Hall and sat down at the end of the long empty table. Only a few other kids were awake.

He ate the little that he could before sitting and looking around. He knew that it would be awhile before the timetables were given out for the day so he sat and waited.

"Good morning Harry." Harry turned to see Daphne, Millicent and Pansy sitting down around him.

"Good morning." He said quietly.

"What's good here then?" Pansy joked as she looked up and down the table at the various breakfast foods that were placed tightly along it. She ended up eating a bowl full of fruit, including grapefruit. Harry wrinkled his nose at the bowl. He had only eaten a piece of toast with butter.

Slowly more and more people filtered into the Hall and once all of the teachers were there (including Harry's family), Harry allowed himself a few glances but they weren't watching him when he looked up. Soon Snape walked down the table and handed out everyone's timetables, it was relatively easy since everyone sat in their year group.

Harry made sure to get two extra timetables for Theo and Blaise who were late; none of the other Slytherins seemed inclined to do so anyway. Harry looked down at his timetable, he had Charms first followed by Transfiguration then double Potions after lunch, he couldn't help but be nervous at having to take a class with his family especially since all of his lessons appeared to be with Gryffindors except for flying which he had on Wednesdays and Fridays with the Ravenclaws. Harry had been told about the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry so he hadn't been especially surprised at this since incidents must have occurred in the past for them to not want them together when high in the air.

"I hear that Professor Lupin is a good teacher at least." Draco sniffed as he sipped his tea. Harry didn't have a chance to say how he was sure that was the case as Theo and Blaise came running into the Hall. They both managed to make it look dignified however as they collapsed gracefully into their seats. "I see you both finally made it."

"Can it Draco." Blaise snapped.

"I got your timetables." Harry said giving them to the boys. Blaise looked surprised but nodded graciously.

"Thank you Harry." Theo said shooting Harry a smile as he looked over his timetable. Harry smiled back before waiting for the others to finish eating. He couldn't help but think that Slytherin wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be last night. Most of the Slytherins seemed inclined to leave him to his own business.

Harry left the Hall with the rest of the Slytherins as they made their way to Charms, Harry couldn't help but notice his brother watching him as he left with them, he tore his eyes away quickly he didn't want to see his brother angry at him.

They found the classroom thanks to Harry's somewhat shaky knowledge of the hallways to the Charms classrooms. They lined up haphazardly and waited somewhat impatiently until Remus turned up. Harry turned his face away and made sure not to make eye contact with him. It was because of this that he didn't see the worried frown Remus shot in his direction.

"Well class I'm Professor Lupin and I thought to start our first lesson we'd do a practical lesson so you get a feel for your wands as this is your first lesson." Draco scoffed quietly and muttered something about only _some_ people didn't have training wands since they were three. "So we'll start with an easy but useful charm that I'm sure you'll be using for the rest of your life. Next lesson we'll look over the theory behind it. The charm is _wingadium leviosa_ and you need to move your wand in a swish and flick motion."

Remus demonstrated before summoning feathers for the class and sending them over to the students. Harry took his wand from its holster and held it nervously, he hadn't used it since the first day in the shop and he felt the same thrill run through him as he held it. A loud bang sounded and Harry jumped as did, he noticed, most of the Slytherins. On the opposite side of the classroom a boy was sitting looking for all the world like he had been cleaning a chimney. Remus hurried over and Harry turned his attention to the other students.

They began practising and Harry noticed the first girl to get it was a Gryffindor with shockingly bushy hair but Harry didn't know much about girls so he thought it might be something their hair didn't normally do. Ethan watched her with rapt attention and soon he managed to copy her. Harry smiled at the look of exultation on his brother's face.

"Why aren't you practising?" Pansy nudged his arm, her feather floating shakily in the air in front of her. Harry shrugged and turned his attention to his own feather.

"Wingadium leviosa." He murmured softly only to let out a yell as not only did his feather rise into the air, his table and everything on it rose three feet into the air. The Slytherins jumped away leaving Harry as the only person who could possibly be doing it, his wand still out in the air as he stood in shock. Remus hurried over but he seemed surprised too.

"Harry I want you to slowly lower your wand down until the table touches the floor." Harry did as he said even as his hand shook.

"Now say _finite incantatum_." Harry repeated the counter-curse in a whisper. The force holding the table and wand together broke and Harry took a few steps back, still shaking from the force of the magic which had been released through him. It was only after he had calmed down that he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"I'm sorry." Harry said earnestly but Remus just shook his head.

"No need to worry Harry, that's just the first time something like that has happened before." Remus said still seeming quite shell-shocked. Harry, never used to people seeing him at all let alone people staring at him was stuck like a deer-in-Lumos-light. Remus seemed to realise this for he clapped his hands. "Right class back to work. Harry, I think it best if you came up away from the rest of the class in case we have anymore mishaps."

Harry felt his cheeks burn in shame as he made his way to behind Remus' desk and Remus gave him a weight to lift saying it would be easier to concentrate his magic on a bigger object until he learnt to funnel his magic better. Harry couldn't even look at Remus after he said this, it was clear he was rubbish at all of this magic so he should just give it up now. But he knew that most of the class was watching him so for the rest of the lesson he levitated the weight. Finally the bell he knew signalled the end of class, tolled and he started to make his way towards his bag.

"Harry can you stay behind for a minute or two please and whoever is in Harry's next class please tell Professor Potter that Harry will be late." Remus called. A few of the Slytherins nodded and Harry sat down on his original stool and waited for his punishment.

"I'm sorry." He whispered despite knowing it wouldn't do any good.

"Sorry for what Cub?" Harry flinched at the nickname. If Remus was nice the good boy game was sure to follow.

"I'm in Slytherin even though you all hate it and I messed up the spell." Harry sniffed trying to hold back his tears. He had cried more often in the last few weeks than he had done since he was a baby. Everything was just so new and it was scarier than any punishment the Dursley's could dish out.

"Harry, we don't care that you're a Slytherin." Remus said softly sitting down on the stool next to Harry's. "Sirius' favourite cousin and his favourite Uncle were in Slytherin and they are two of the nicest people I have ever met."

"Yeah?" Harry whispered, almost too scared to believe it.

"Yeah. And as for that spell… well to say you did it wrong is so contrary I don't know where to start. Cub we give first years a feather because generally the amount of control it takes to channel your first bits of magic correctly is enormous, most of the children in your class will be feeling tired now and will probably have a good night's sleep tonight. To lift a table like that, not to mention everything on it and to not even appear a little bit tired is so amazing I'm sure it's never happened to a first year before." Remus rested his hand gently on Harry's shoulder and Harry finally looked up.

"So I didn't do it wrong?" He whispered and Remus shook his head a grin spreading across his face.

"You'll definitely make up for your reading ability with your practicals I can tell you that now." Remus laughed ruffling Harry's hair gently causing him to flinch ever so slightly. "Now go on to your next class before your Dad has an aneurism in his worry. I'm sure Ethan is dying of curiosity now too."

"Okay." Harry said softly. He stood and Remus walked him to the door. Making a quick decision Harry turned around and hugged Remus briefly causing the werewolf to freeze before hugging Harry back lightly. "Bye."

Harry felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It felt so good to know his family didn't hate him. Instead it seemed what he had done in Remus' classroom was an achievement. He hurried to his next lesson already knowing where the classroom was as it was very close to his Father's rooms.

He entered and it seemed as though all eyes turned to him once more. His Father gave him a small smile and a thumbs up. Harry smiled cautiously back before hurrying to a seat which Draco had obviously kept clear for him.

"Right class, I'm sure Professor Lupin gave you a practical lesson even though he's normally so bookish you can't get him away from the theory." This dragged a few chuckles from the class. "Along those lines I'm giving you a practical as well. We're going to learn a very simple spell today which will give you lots of use in the future I'm sure." At this James winked. "I certainly used it well in my school days. Excellent for making pumpkin juice popsicles."

At this James summoned what seemed like an endless tray of pumpkin juices and he told everyone to come up and collect one. Then he taught them the charm, which they all began to practise. Harry however refused to use his wand. He instead watched as Draco and the others did it.

"Professor?" Someone from the Gryffindor side called and Harry recognised the girl from before throwing her hand in the air.

"Yes Miss Granger?"

"Isn't this lesson about transfiguring one thing into another how is a freezing spell doing that?" She asked quickly. At this James grinned

"Well, before we get onto the hard stuff, first you have to know the basics and what is the most basic form of transfiguration than that of a liquid into a solid or a gas or vice versa." James shrugged and the girl nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Once you're able to do that, you can eventually do something like this!"

Without any prompt suddenly there was no James standing at the front of the class, instead there was a magnificent stag which shook its antlers and looked majestic until it knocked over a pile of books on his desk. James transfigured back sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Bet you could do that." Blaise murmured in Harry's ear and Harry shook his head. Slowly the rest of the class went back to making pumpkin juice icicles and it wasn't long before James realised that his son wasn't trying.

"Hey Harry, having a hard time?" He asked quietly and Harry shook his head.

"I-I just had an accident in Re…Professor Lupin's class and I don't want it to happen here." Harry said just as softly.

"What happened in Remus' class?" James asked worriedly. Harry didn't answer for a second so Pansy saw fit to answer for him.

"He cast a levitating charm on a feather and it lifted the whole desk." She said and James gaped at his son for a moment before he managed to compose himself.

"Well son. Just give it a try anyway." Harry nodded nervously and held his wand ready, instantly the class was at attention ready for some big spectacle. The Slytherins all took a step back.

"_Frio_." He murmured softly and a steady stream of ice headed from his wand to his pumpkin juice, it covered the juice before setting in more deep. It spread in spidery tendrils out of the glass and down the table before covering the surface and moving down towards the floor. Harry meanwhile had begun to breathe heavily and was swaying slightly.

"_Finite Incantatum." _James said quickly catching his swaying son before he hit the floor. "Wow… Well, for now I think you need to practise mostly on controlling the amount of magic you are using. When you do a spell I want you to focus very hard on what you are trying to cast it on, ignore everything else. Just that."

Harry nodded but was still swaying, he felt drained like someone had sucked the life out of him. He leaned heavily against the desk and once James moved over to help a Gryffindor he let his head rest against the desk, just for a few minutes.

* * *

><p>"Harry." Harry snapped awake to see his brother staring at him in a moment extremely similar to that one his first day waking up to a family.<p>

"Hey Ethan." He murmured sluggishly, he looked around to see he was in their bedroom. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only an hour, your missing lunch at the moment, we've still got double potions to go." Ethan smiled brightly at him. "You're so good at magic!"

"I don't mean to be." Harry mumbled and Ethan just shrugged.

"You're a natural then! Everyone is really excited. Dad said I could come see you in lunch since we don't have another lesson until potions. He's talking to Dumbledore at the moment." Ethan said quickly and Harry nodded.

"I'm sorry Ethan." He said softly. "I knew you wanted us to be in the same House."

"Oh I don't care about that!" He seemed to pause for a moment. "Well, I did at first I really wanted to be close to you, you know? But then Hermione told me I was being silly."  
>"Hermione?" Harry asked.<p>

"Oh she's the really smart girl." Ethan shrugged. "The one with bushy hair."

Harry nodded dumbly, Hermione, she seemed nice at least.

"Look who's up!" Harry turned to the door to see Sirius watching his with a grin on his face. "Looks like you take after my genes kiddo!"

Harry frowned in confusion, that wasn't possible was it? Remus appeared behind Sirius and hit him across the head.

"Don't listen to him Cub he's being an idiot." Harry smiled slightly and Ethan grinned beside him.

"It's true! He's in Slytherin _and_ he's powerful. He's a mini Black in the making!" Sirius laughed. Remus once again rolled his eyes before sitting down on the bed beside Harry.

"How're you feeling Cub?" He asked.

"Okay, tired though." He said holding a hand to his head.

"I'm not surprised!" Sirius cheered. "You did amounts of magic that fourth years still find difficult!"

"Will I be able to go to potions?" Harry asked and Remus nodded. To Harry potions was something he associated with witches and wizards, well that and black hats.

"Never thought I'd see the day when a Potter wanted to go to potions!" Sirius pretended to faint.

"Try to have a little nap before you go Cub." Harry let his eyes close and allowed himself to fall into a shallow sleep.

* * *

><p>"You don't see my point? You don't see my point?" James yelled loudly. "Harry uses amounts of magic which fourth year students find almost impossible. I know everyone thinks that Ethan is the boy-who-lived but while he's been generally good at spells and his control, he has nothing on Harry, he turned his whole desk to ice!"<p>

"Be that as it may, there is no proof; Ethan was the child who summoned a shield at one year old." Dumbledore said shrugging and going back to his paperwork.

James glared harshly at Dumbledore before storming out of the office determined to watch Harry more closely.

* * *

><p>Potions was in the dungeons, Professor Snape was an interesting man, he had swept into the room and instantly sent a glare around which quelled any of the continued conversations. Harry had sat next to Draco whose platinum plated cauldron was apparently best for potions as it wouldn't react with the ingredients made Harry's plain iron one look shabby. They had been paired together for the term. The first potion they were making was a simple mood analyser potion which when applied to a person's skin would make the patch it had touched to change colour depending on their mood. Snape had said it was useful in Healer Wards as sometimes a patient would not be able to talk about how they felt.<p>

Draco went to get the ingredients and Harry got the cauldron at the right temperature, it was a lot like cooking with a saucepan so he could do that. Once Draco came back Harry began to prepare the wormswort while Draco prepared a base for the potion, they used double the ingredients and split them to put into their own cauldron since timing was something they had to work on alone and would be graded on separately. Harry was glad for once that his large amount of magic wouldn't affect what he was doing, all he had to do was act like he was cooking a stew and he was fine.

The two hours flew by and Snape had them all test the potions out. Harry and Draco's potion worked exceptionally well, compared to Ethan and Ron's which had caused both of them to turn a horrible bright purple all over.

Harry let himself smile at the harsh praise he gained from Snape who had sniffed and said that Draco had done well in his first potion and Harry's was passable even if he did call Harry 'Potter' and his potion was exactly the same as Draco's.

"So, are you feeling up to dinner?" Draco sniffed. "Or are you going to faint on us again?"

Harry was thrown off by Draco's brisk attitude towards him and his face must have said something of the sort as Draco stormed off followed by Blaise and Crabbe and Goyle. Theo just sighed and followed more slowly.

"Ignore him Harry dear." Pansy linked arms with him. "He was just scared by you fainting."

"But I've only know him a day." Harry said softly as he allowed Pansy to lead him to dinner. He had forcibly quelled his flinch at the touch but Pansy didn't seem to allow for him to pull away when she grabbed onto him.

"Ah yes but Harry dear, you're a Slytherin now, we look after each other." She just smirked at the bewildered look on Harry's face.


	7. The Boy Who Flew

Chapter Seven – The-Boy-Who-Flew

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or its characters.

The broom was tightly clenched in his hand, it was old with wood that was knarled and twisted from age. The bristles were sticking out every which way but it was a _flying_ broom so Harry looked past all of that and instead watched in amazement as Sirius flew over followed by an elderly woman with a stern look to her face.

"I am Madam Hooch; your Quidditch coach. Until second year this class is compulsory, this is my assistant and my replacement for next year Sirius Black." She said as the class gathered around them. "Now we will split into Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Professor Black will take the Slytherins."

The class shuffled around to the separate groups. Sirius winked at Harry as he stood at the front of the group.

"All we will be doing today is getting some height; I don't really expect you to get too high unless you've had some experience beforehand as I'm sure lots of you have. Ah, I remember one summer when I was ten I stole my Uncle's broom and flew over London at night…Those were the days." He shook his head to pull himself seemingly out of his memories and grinned. "Mount your brooms."

The class did so, some more nervously than others. Blaise looked particularly pale Harry couldn't help but notice.

"Let's see how you do on your own first. Try to get some air." Sirius hovered and a few of the class were able to copy him. Harry saw Pansy and Draco shoot into the air quickly whereas Blaise had his eyes shut tight and was clenching his broom as it rose into the air slightly. Harry found it remarkably easy. If you tucked your legs up under the broom it hovered on its own and tilting it back slightly meant it rose higher. Eventually everyone managed to get even just a few inches off of the ground.

"Next…movement!" Sirius said dramatically. "If you lean forward you should move forward, lean either way to turn. If you feel you are going too fast you just sit back until you're upright and you should stop. First one to the other side of the pitch gets a bar of Honeyduke's Finest courtesy of Professor Lupin, which by the way I risked my life to steal from his personal chocolate stash. I'm not lying. My _Life_."

Harry breathed in sharply as he leaned forward and the broom shot forward, it was exhilarating to feel the air part around him. He pulled up short as he reached the other side of the pitch and he turned the broom around in a wide arch to see the rest of the class moving slowly towards him. Draco and Pansy at the head, both reached him faster than the other Slytherins and Blaise brought up the back finishing a good few minutes after Harry.

"Wow Harry, I've never seen a beginner fly like that before!" Sirius exclaimed jumping off of his broom. "You win the chocolate hands down."

Harry flushed under the praise and smiled when both Draco and Pansy commented along the same lines.

"You know Harry…the Slytherin Quidditch team is holding a whole team try out in a month, I think you should be a serious candidate." Sirius said thoughtfully. "Miss Parkinson, Mr Malfoy, you two are also better than some of the chasers I've seen on the team for the last few years. With a month or two of practise you could be team worthy."

Draco and Pansy practically glowed under the praise as did Harry.

"You know what I'm going to do." Sirius said grinning. "I'm going to talk to Madam Hooch and Dumbledore about allowing first years to try out for the team, even if it is just as substitute players… Anyway, for now I just want you to practise flying and getting control over your broom."

For the rest of the lesson they did speed drills and manoeuvres. Harry found that there was nothing quite like racing on a broom.

* * *

><p>"I have an announcement to make." The noise in the Great Hall slowly filtered down to silence as Dumbledore stood. "It has been brought to my attention that a few first years have shown great ability at flying. As such I am rescinding the rule which says that they are not allowed to take part in Quidditch matches. You will all be allowed to try out for your House's team and if you are good enough you will be placed, even if it is as a backup position. Now, continue with your food."<p>

An excited chatter filled the hall as the announcement came to an end. Draco and Pansy were both smiling widely and Harry found his own smile hard to contain.

"You're all mad." Blaise muttered causing laughter to break out between Draco and Pansy.

"What's wrong Blaise?" Harry asked softly.

"Oh don't mind him. Heights aren't his strong point." Draco chuckled as Theo patted Blaise on the back.

"Oh…well, why didn't you tell Siri- uh, Professor Black that, I'm sure he would have let you out of the lesson?" Harry asked frowning in confusion, they wouldn't say anything if he had wanted to stay in the common room. His question however caused laughter to ring through the first years. Harry tilted his head in confusion.

"Blaise has been trying to overcome his fear since he was six." Pansy laughed. "You should have seen him when we went to our first quidditch game. He shrieked like Daphne on a bad hair day and didn't open his eyes the whole time we were there."

"I resent that." Blaise said through gritted teeth. "I shrieked like Draco on a bad hair day. Much louder and higher."

Everyone laughed as Draco hit Blaise upside the head before they went back to their food still talking about the fact that they were the first, first years ever allowed to fly in a Quidditch match.

* * *

><p>"Tell your Dad thank you for giving us permission to use the quidditch kit." Pansy said as Harry levitated a large crate down to the Quidditch pitch from the supply shed, it had been a week since their first flying lesson and Harry still had enough magic in his spells to levitate most of the things in the quidditch shed at the same time but after help from his Dad after lessons he had become better at isolating the object he wanted to affect, though the resonance of his magic still left things shaking around it.<p>

The practise brooms were in their grips but Pansy had told him that he needed to understand the game first.

"There are three types of ball in a quidditch match." Draco said flipping open the crate revealing them. "The first is the quaffle; this is played with by the Chasers-"

"That's the position Draco is going to try for." Pansy cut in causing Draco to give her a glare.

"It is thrown between them and aimed for the hoops at each end of the pitch. Each team has a set of hoops to defend and to aim for. A Keeper is the player who defends the hoops though chasers can steal the quaffle from other teams-"

"I'm going for Keeper." Pansy interrupted again and Draco glared at her again.

"Do you mind?" He sighed exasperatedly.

"Not really, no." She laughed. "Chasers need to be agile and good at defensive/offensive strategies, they have to keep the ball and get it back. Keepers like myself have to be quick and have good judgement for where a chaser will throw the ball. It's a keeper's job to learn the movements of the opposing team's players and react to them. Its why the keeper tends to be the Captain, they're good at strategizing."

"Okay. I understand that." Harry said thinking over what they had said.

"The second type of ball is the most dangerous." Draco ran a slim finger over the two smaller balls and instantly they began to struggle against the restraints. "These are bludgers, they are aimed at members of the opposing team by Beaters who basically hit them with a bat, but Beaters also have to defend their own team members. You won't be a Beater since they need to be heavyset and solid. You'd blow over with a gust of wind."

Pansy laughed at the disgruntled look on Harry's face but he nodded accepting what was said.

"The last ball is what some consider the most important part of the game." Draco said sniffing disdainfully as if that wasn't true.

"He only says that because he wants to be a Chaser." Pansy rolled her eyes.

"The snitch is the smallest and most difficult to see. It is caught by the Seeker who is usually the highest paid player on the team. Whichever Seeker catches the snitch gets one hundred and fifty points for their team and ends the game." Draco said blatantly ignoring Pansy's comment. "Now let's have a go. We won't bother with bludgers since none of us want to be Beaters."

Draco mounted his broom and scooped up the quaffle throwing it at Harry who caught it with a startled yelp before dropping it. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Throw it back." Pansy said. Harry tried, he really did but it went the wrong way and ended up closer to Pansy than Draco. "Hmm. Maybe Chaser isn't for you. Let's try your hand at Seeker, this is only a snitchet, so it won't fly very high, but it will move just as fast."

Pansy knelt to the crate and released a small latch; it clicked and opened a compartment revealing a tiny gold ball. Harry watched entranced as it twitched and wings unfolded from its body. It flew surprisingly fast from the crate and Harry followed its movements closely. He climbed onto his broom and took off after it. The snitchet stayed only at maximum five feet off of the ground but it moved quickly and seemed to escape Harry's grasp. He stayed on its tail and after five minutes he had it back in his hand and was flushed from the chase.

"That's amazing!" He exclaimed as he landed. "It moves so fast."

"So do you." Draco said watching him critically. "You'll make a good Seeker."

Harry beamed under the praise and settled to watch Pansy and Draco trying to steal the quaffle from one another for a few minutes before releasing the snitchet again and taking off.

* * *

><p>Harry's palms were sweating and he was sure he was pale. Pansy and Draco didn't look affected and he wasn't sure how they could bare it. The try outs were today after a month of practising with Draco and Pansy and sometimes Ethan who had made the Gryffindor Replacement Seeker just yesterday at the Gryffindor try outs, they were standing on the quidditch pitch along with the other hopefuls from Slytherins of all years.<p>

"Calm down Harry, you're a brilliant Seeker. You'll get placed for certain." Draco said softly as Marcus Flint, a tall, slim boy in his Seventh year strode out to them. He was Slytherin's Captain and he scared Harry more than flying did. He had a scowl which never left his face.

"Today you will split into groups of the position you want to play I will then give you drills to do. The best will get the placements. The second best will be subs for them." He said roughly before making them split. Harry was in a group with an older boy and two older girls. One looked as nervous as he felt.

The Seekers were to be tried last, the Chasers first. Harry found himself holding his breath for Draco as he did formations with the other Chasers. He wasn't the best but he was certainly close. Eventually the trials were over and Marcus lined up the Chasers.

"Adrian, Graham, you'll stay Chasers with me like we were last year." Harry bit his lip at Draco's disappointed look. "Malfoy you are sub."

Draco looked up and nodded but Harry could see he was almost bursting with pride at being picked.

"Keepers next." Pansy like Draco was given a substitute position. Much too soon to Harry it seemed it became his turn.

The Seekers first had to show their speed. As soon as he was in the air he forgot about everything else and let his instincts guide him across the pitch and back. He didn't realise he was first until he came to a stop in front of Marcus' shocked face, the Slytherin quickly covered his emotion and nodded at Harry.

Marcus then released a snitch. He counted to ten and made them take off. Harry instead of shooting into the air like the other three sat where he was hovering just above the ground and scanned the pitch. In the far corner a glint of gold caught his eye and his shot off like an arrow, the snitch sensing its detection flitted away but Harry had his eyes trained on it now and he followed it closely. He barely noticed the other seekers falling him behind him; instead he pressed close to the broom and reached out. Elation filled him as he felt the little gold ball contact his hand and he clenched his fist.

"Harry!" Harry only then realised that he had been flying vertically and was now extremely close to the ground. He pulled up hard but his broom tipped the ground and it summersaulted, he was flipped off of it and lay for a moment shocked on the ground. He could hear Pansy and Draco yelling his name and he sat up slowly shaking his head to clear the slight dizziness he felt before he climbed to his feet. A grin spread across his face. That was AMAZING!

"Looks like we have our Seeker." Marcus said dryly. "But don't go pulling stunts like that in the actual games we don't want our Seeker damaged now do we."

It took a few moments for Harry to register what Marcus was telling him. He had made Seeker and not just a sub, he was the actual Seeker. Pansy hugged him tightly and Draco patted his shoulder before linking arms with him. All three were beaming as they made their way back to the castle.

"I've got to go tell my Father how it went." Harry said and the other Slytherins nodded letting go of Harry as he ran to get to his Father's rooms.

He gasped the password breathlessly and almost fell through the portrait hole in his hurry. James came in through the kitchen.

"Hey Harry, how did it go?" He asked looking giddy.

"I made Seeker." Harry said exhilarated. "I made the proper Seeker not even as a sub, as a full-time position."

"That's fantastic Harry!" James yelled. In his excitement James picked up his son and hugged him tightly. "Oh…uh sorry."

"It's okay." Harry said softly as he rested his head against James' shoulder. "I don't mind."

"Well done Harry." James said. "Well done."


	8. The Boy Who Fought The Troll

Chapter Eight – The-Boy-Who-Fought-The-Troll

(…And won!)

I don't own Harry Potter or its Characters.

"Hey Harry!" Harry looked up from his studying, it had been almost two months since the school year had begun and between lessons, his reading lessons with Remus and his quidditch practise with Draco and Pansy, Harry had barely had enough time to keep his head above water let alone socialise with his brother.

"Hello Ethan." Harry said softly, they were in the library after all and Madam Pince was extremely stern and didn't like people talking in her domain.

"We haven't seen each other nearly as much as we should!" Ethan exclaimed causing the Librarian to shush him. "We should skip out on the feast today and celebrate your first Halloween with us in Dad's rooms, we'll have dinner with him and Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius."

Harry bit his lip, it was Theo's birthday and the Slytherins were planning on holding a small celebration at the feast, he couldn't miss it.

"I can't tonight." Harry said smiling apologetically.

"Why not?" Ethan frowned seeming annoyed, Harry bit his lip.

"It's one of my friend's birthdays." He said trying not to aggravate his brother, it didn't work.

"I haven't seen you for almost a month and you're blowing me off for some Slytherin!" Ethan shouted causing Madam Pince to come over and give her glare of doom.

"I…I'm sorry Ethan but its Theo's birthday, I can't miss it." Harry said wincing as he saw the fury work its way across his twins face.

"Whatever Harry, obviously your new Slytherin friends mean more to you than your actually family!" Harry turned away closing his eyes tight as Ethan pushed the chair back harshly and practically ran from the room. Harry felt tears burn his eyes and he sat for a long while trying to stop them.

He didn't realise how much time past as he sat there but he did notice when the bell for the beginning of dinner tolled. He packed away his stuff quickly and made his way to the Great Hall, he couldn't miss Theo's birthday dinner.

"You were almost late. We were going to start without you!" Daphne called as he slipped down beside her. He gave her a weak smile and said happy birthday to Theo even though he had said already this morning. He hadn't given a gift as he hadn't wanted to ask for money; Theo knew this and had said that he could pay him back by helping him with his practical work in class, Theo was much better with the theoretical side of the work.

James, Sirius and Remus weren't present at dinner, neither was Ethan and Harry couldn't help but notice the glares he was getting from the Gryffindor side of the hall. He tried to ignore them in favour of the candied apples and jellied snakes which were aplenty on the table. Harry had developed a sweet tooth since he had come to Hogwarts; he had never eaten anything of the sort beforehand and he couldn't get enough now.

"You're going to grow fat with the amount of sugar you're eating Harry." Pansy said dryly after his third candied apple. Harry smiled at her knowing that she wasn't really telling him off.

It was after dinner and everyone was slowly retreating from the Hall, the Slytherin first years followed still laughing from Theo's embarrassment at being the centre of attention when they were stopped by the first year Gryffindors, Harry recognised most of them as friends of Ethan's, Ron and Hermione Ethan's best friends weren't there however, Harry knew they must be eating dinner with Ethan and his family.

"What's up with you Potter?" It was the Irish boy… Seamus, Harry thought that spoke first.

"What are you going on about Finnegan?" Blaise spat back his hand flitting to his wand.

"Potter here upset his brother. Seriously, choosing Slytherins over his own blood, that's the lowest of the low." One half of the twins in their year, Pavarti spoke. Harry flinched, that was almost exactly what Ethan had said to him earlier.

"Shut your mouth Patil." Draco sneered drawing his wand. All of the Gryffindors drew their wands in response which prompted all of the Slytherins to draw them back.

"Your family should have disowned you as soon as the Hat called out your House." Lavender spat a nasty sneer pulled at her face.

"Harry?" Pansy whispered.

"Ooh, is poor little Potter going to cry?" Pavarti hissed and Harry swallowed before turning on his heel and running away.

He ended up in a bathroom of a Floor he didn't know the number of; he curled up on the floor of the furthest cubicle and cried.

He jumped as a loud smash startled him out of his tears. He wiped his face clean before gasping as a shudder wracked through the cubicles along with another smash. He screamed at the next smash as the cubicle exploded around him, Harry fell to the floor from the impact and looked up dazedly to see a huge mottle-green creature with a club in its hand. It growled as it saw him and lifted its club. Harry cried out and rolled away from the massive block of wood.

He pulled his wand out and climbed to his feet running to the wall as the club swung at him again. He thought through every spell he knew and winced as he ducked underneath a roll of sinks which were smashed by the club.

"_Frio!_" He screamed desperately as he aimed for the club. It froze over and the Troll dropped it as it slipped from his grasp. Harry gasped for air at the power it took to completely freeze such a large moving target.

The troll growled in rage and swung for Harry with its bare fists. Harry dove but the troll managed to catch his side and send him reeling into the wall, now he gasped for air for a different reason, his ribs were broken, he knew that from experience. He pressed his hand to his side letting out a yell of pain as he was slammed into once again this time his head cracking against the wall. He forced himself to get up on shaking legs before spinning on the troll again which was trying to pick up its club but it kept slipping away.

"_Wingadium Leviosa!"_ Harry yelled squinting through the dark splotches covering his vision, he felt his remaining strength get pushed into the spell, the club lifted into the air and he moved it over the troll's head, not so much releasing the spell as letting it go with the rest of his magic the club dropped down with enough of an impact to knock the troll out. It slumped to the floor only a few seconds before Harry.

* * *

><p>"-the stone can't be safe. <em>He<em> must still be looking for it if he's become daring enough to send a troll into the school!" Harry vaguely recognised that voice. Harry remembered what had happened in a flash and as he did it seemed all of the pain from the encounter caught up with him, it was all he could do not to cry out.

"The school is still the safest place for it." That was Dumbledore with his infinitely calm voice.

"Yeah safe! That's why my son is laying in a coma after only two months of school!" That was most definitely James, no question about it. Soon after that the voices left still muttering about some sort of stone.

Harry frowned only to realise how much more pain that caused him and he let out a sharp cry of pain. Instantly there were many people at his side.

"Harry…Harry, are you awake?" Harry managed to open one eye to see James staring down from above him, tears filled James' eyes at the sight of the brilliant green eyes of his younger son. "Hey son."

"Hmm." Harry managed to hum out unable to get his voice to work the way he wanted it too.

"Don't worry about anything, you just need to rest." This was Remus who was gently stroking Harry's hair back from his forehead.

"…Troll…" Harry managed to croak out. This caused strained laughter to run through the room.

"You took care of it well enough Harry, you were both unconscious by the time we go to the scene." Sirius said softly and Harry nodded sleepily his eyes drifting shut as whatever potions they were keeping him on took more effect.

"Mhhmsorry." Harry mumbled and the adults gave him a strange look.

"For what Harry?" James asked.

"Didn't…Didn't mean to make…to make Ethan mad…" Harry managed to get out through the fog in his mind before he slipped once more into darkness.

* * *

><p>"-needs his rest! I will not have children running around my Hospital Wing."<p>

"We just want to see him!" Harry opened his eyes and sat up wincing at the pain in his side, he looked around blinking blearily before he realised his didn't have his glasses on. He pulled them on and his eyes focussed on the small group of Gryffindors flanked by what had to be all of the Slytherin first years.

"Harry!" Ethan yelled pushing past Madam Pomfrey and to his bed side. Harry bit his lip and didn't meet his twin's eyes. The Slytherins gathered on the other side of the bed, Pansy and Daphne instantly began to mother him.

"I'm fine guys." Harry murmured moving away from their petting hands. Eventually they deemed him well enough to let him go and Pansy sufficed to holding his hand.

"I can't believe you took on a troll." Draco tutted disdainfully but Harry was sure everyone could see the worry that had creased his forehead.

"I didn't." Harry said rolling his eyes. "It took on me."

The Slytherins let out a weak laugh at his attempted joke but Harry noticed that Ethan did not look happy in the slightest.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Harry asked.

"Dad said that you woke up for a really short time on the first night but since then you've been under for four days." Ethan said and Harry nodded closing his eyes again.

"Are you tired Harry, do you want us to leave?" Daphne asked and Harry shook his head forcing his eyes open, blinking a few times to stay awake.

"You're obviously too tired to keep your eyes open, we'll come visit you later. It's before lessons right now, we'll come after dinner." Draco said and Harry nodded slowly sinking into his pillow, he had to admit that his bed in the Slytherin dorms were a lot more comfortable than this one.

"G'night." He managed to muttered before he fell asleep aided by the potions still in his system.

"Why wouldn't he even look at me?" Ethan asked frowning as he brushed Harry's hair from his forehead revealing the lightning shaped scar. Draco snorted at this causing Ethan to glare at him.

"Why don't you ask your little Gryffindor buddies? They were the ones who made him run off in the first place." Draco sneered.

"What do you mean?" It was Hermione who asked this.

"After the feast the Gryffindor first years confronted us to taunt Harry about upsetting _you_." Pansy spat angrily.

Ethan froze.

"They must have overheard me talking." Ethan said never tearing his gaze from Harry's prone form.

"Well were you ranting in the Common room about it because other people tend to be able to hear you in there." Draco scorned and Ethan flushed an ugly red proving what Draco said to be true. The rest of the Slytherins threw disgusted looks at the twin before taking their leave. Hermione and Ron seemed about to try and get Ethan to leave but they saw from the look on his face that he wasn't going anywhere so they left him sitting on Harry's bedside.

* * *

><p>It was late the next time Harry woke up, the Slytherins had come and gone and Madam Pomfrey had tried three times to get Ethan to leave Harry's side. Ethan sighed and felt tears rise in his eyes once more as he thought of the pain he must have put his twin through, he didn't mean anything he had said he was just angry at the fact that the Slytherins had been spending more time with his own brother than he had he realised now how stupid he had been, if it were Ron or Hermione's birthday he would have been sure that Harry would have understood but he being the idiot he was had yelled at Harry for having other plans.<p>

"Ethan?" Harry mumbled blinking his eyes open. "What're you doing here?"

"I didn't leave." Ethan said feeling his chest constrict as Harry looked away from him. "I'm so sorry Harry!"

This caused Harry to frown and look back.

"What do you mean, I'm the one who should be sorry, I'm the one who was spending more time with my House than you!" Harry said biting his trembling bottom lip.

"Harry that's not your fault! I shouldn't have yelled at you for spending time with your new friends even if they are Slytherins." Ethan smiled weakly at his attempt at a joke but Harry didn't even break a smile.

"It's okay Ethan." Harry said softly finally looking at his twin who was close to tears.

"I'm so sorry Harry." Ethan cried pulling Harry into a soft hug wincing as even that caused his brother pain. "I promise to be a better big brother from now on!"

"You're not that much older than me." Harry whispered causing Ethan to laugh.

"No but I am bigger and three minutes is a long time!" Ethan joked causing Harry to smile. Ethan hugged his brother once more before they broke apart at the opening of a door. Remus, Sirius and James entered, hurrying over once they saw he was awake once more.

"How're you feeling Cub?" Remus asked.

"Better, I can talk now." Harry said, though his throat was still raw.

"You're lucky you didn't get more than a bump on the head and a few bruises, not many adults could have taken on a full grown troll let alone an eleven year old." James said sitting down on the opposite side of the bed to Ethan. Harry just looked down at the covers.

"I only used the two spells you taught me." He shrugged and James and Remus shared a look over his head but they wouldn't say that that was even more impressive than if he had known more spells.

"Well, it was good use of them either way." Sirius grinned. "And I have spoken to Professor McGonagall, and as much as it pains me I told her that I thought house points were in order so I have awarded you thirty points to Slytherin for the brave actions of its smallest member."

Harry's mouth dropped open in shock before a smile spread across his face.

"Really?"

"Mhmhmm." Sirius laughed. "What good is it being an assistant professor if I can't give away some points now and again? Now you need to get better because it's your first quidditch game in a week and I want to see you up in the air trying your best to win, even if they you are on the snakes' team." Sirius laughed ruffling Harry's hair. Harry nodded and sunk lower into his bed allowing himself to drift off to the sound of his family's voices.


	9. The Boy who Fell

Chapter Nine – The-Boy-Who-Fell

It was a crisp clear day with blue skies and a feeling of anticipation was in the air, they had been back to lessons for two weeks. Today was the day of the first quidditch match, Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw and Harry could feel the nerves radiating around him and from him. Marcus Flint the captain for this year was practically the same green as the Slytherin banners as he sat at breakfast that morning.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open suddenly causing many people to jump. Revealing a thin weedy man with a strange hat on his head, Harry had never seen anything like it.

"Ah, children." Dumbledore called everyone's attention. "This is Quirinus Quirrell a specialist in defence against the dark arts. As you are all aware Professor Varden our own Defence against the Dark Arts professor has taken ill with the dragon pox, Professor Quirrell will be replacing him."

Whispers went around the room once again, Harry heard a few about the position being cursed, no one had been able to keep it for more than a year it seemed. Harry meanwhile watching Quirrell carefully, he was dressed strangely, he wore purple robes which fit around his body differently to normal robes and the hat was definitely strange.

"I wonder what he keeps under that turban." Pansy giggled next to him.

"Is that what the hat's called?" Harry asked and Pansy nodded.

Harry gladly allowed himself to get ignored in favour of the new professor. Ever since he had been allowed back into lessons everyone had seemed to stare and whisper at him all the more. Really he hadn't meant to knock a troll unconscious it had just happened.

The lessons for today had been cancelled so once everyone had finished eating they made their way out to the quidditch pitch. Harry, Draco and Pansy then split from the rest of the First years and went to the changing rooms. They changed into their brand new uniforms and followed Marcus Flint onto the pitch. Pansy and Draco went with the other subs to the bench and Harry flew as was practised, within a few minutes the whistle was blown and the game began.

Suddenly everything was a blur of motion. The chasers were off and the beaters were hitting the bludgers but Harry stayed still throughout it all. The snitch had flittered away without him seeing where it went. He scanned the field and made sure to keep an eye on the Ravenclaw seeker, just in case.

Harry looked over at the Professors stand as a glint of metal caught his eye but it turned out to be one of the Professor's broaches. He couldn't help but notice however that Snape's eyes were anywhere but the game. He was mumbling something under his breath; his eyes were locked opposite on the Gryffindor stands. Harry looked over to where Ethan and his friends were sitting at the front row, Ethan leaning over and yelling at him loudly to 'move and find the snitch' and just as he shouted it seemed as though Ethan suddenly slumped over the side as if he had fainted, Harry could hear Hermione's scream from here. She had gripped onto his arm tightly and Ron had grabbed the other arm but there seemed to be a problem and Ethan was slipping from their grasp. Other Gryffindors had grabbed onto Ethan but he was slipping from them too.

Harry instantly bent down over his broom but it was frozen in mid-air he looked around frantically to see that all of the other brooms on the field were the same. His eyes shot to the teachers stand to see his Father, Remus and Sirius all at the edge of their own stand, their wands out and they were chanting and waving their wands frantically but nothing seemed to work, Ethan was still slipping from the Gryffindors' grasp.

"Nothing's working!" Harry gasped feeling as though all of the breath had left his body. He leaned further over his broom. His brother was going to fall.

The world seemed to slow down as the Gryffindors' grip finally failed and Ethan sunk towards the floor. He heard someone screaming and realised it was himself. He didn't stop as his brother plummeted. A gasp went up from the Slytherin stands and he realised why when he saw one of the players shoot forward and just before Ethan hit the floor he was tackled by the player and they both fell to the ground but the momentum had been stopped and they were both alive on the ground. The spell holding all brooms in mid-air broke suddenly and Harry's broom shot forward. He leapt off and landed on his feet. It was only then that he realised the player who had saved his brother's life was Draco and he was lying on the ground under Ethan both were unconscious, Draco with a thin line of blood dripping down his forehead, he must have hit it when they hit the ground.

"Ethan! Draco!" He yelled falling to his knees beside them. Ethan's arm was bent at a bad angle and Draco had bruises already blossoming on his face but they were both alive. He felt tears run down his cheeks in relief they were alive.

* * *

><p>Harry had been sat in the Hospital Wing for almost three hours before Ethan came too. It turned out someone had slipped a slow acting potion into his pumpkin juice that morning which caused the person affected to fall unconscious within an hour of consumption. He also had a curse put on him to make him feel heavier and a repellent charm which stopped all of the Professor's spells from acting on him. His arm had broken from the fall but if Draco hadn't hit him off course there would be no doubt that he would be dead.<p>

"What happened?" Ethan asked groggily.

"Someone tried to kill you. They gave you a potion and cursed you to make you fall from the stands, they also put a charm on you to make you heavier so none of the Gryffindors could hold onto you." James said. He had sat with Harry the whole time. Sirius and Remus had told him to be with his son while they spoke to the Aurors, Madam Pomfrey had been unable to remove them unlike the band of first year Slytherins who had wanted to stay with Draco, she had said family only and Pansy had made Harry promise on pain of death to come get them when Draco woke.

"Oh… Who?" He asked and James sighed.

"We don't know yet." He said running his hand through his son's hair. "Thank Merlin you're okay!"

Ethan laughed softly before turning to Harry.

"Who won the game?" He asked looking for all the world like it was the most important thing.

"No one, it was postponed because of the fall." Harry said.

"Oh…so how did the curse break?" Ethan asked.

"It didn't, they also placed a charm repellent on you so we couldn't break it and all of the players on the pitch were put under a stasis charm so they couldn't fly and save you." James explained. "Draco Malfoy saved you. He's a sub for Slytherin and whoever cast the curse didn't remember to but a stasis charm on his broom. He flew too quickly for it to catch him and he broke your fall."

"Malfoy!" Ethan exclaimed. "But he hates me."

"No he doesn't." Harry said frowning. "He's just overprotective of me. Like you are."

"Wow. Saved by Draco Malfoy. I'm never going to live this down." Ethan chuckled before yawning widely. "Is it okay if I go to sleep now?"

"Yes but let Madam Pomfrey check you over first." James said going into the office and returning quickly with the Healer who performed the usual checks before declaring Ethan healthy aside from the still healing arm which would be allowed to move in a day or so. With that said and done Ethan was allowed back to sleep and James told Harry to watch over him while he went to speak to the Aurors.

Harry turned to where Draco was still unconscious, he couldn't deny the worry he felt. Since Ethan had been cursed to become heavier when Draco had broken Ethan's fall he had fallen harder being crushed by Ethan. He had broken three ribs and punctured a lung, his head had also hit the ground hard and that was what Madam Pomfrey was most worried about especially since Draco had yet to wake.

"Where's my son?" Harry looked up in shock to see a beautiful blonde woman standing in the doorway beside a tall stern man. They could only be Draco's parents.

"Um…Mr and Mrs Malfoy. Draco's here." Harry said softly but they heard him and the woman strode over closely followed by the man. The woman sat on Draco's bedside and stroked his hair back from his forehead.

"Who are you and why are you sitting next to my son?" Lucius, Harry remembered Pansy calling Draco's father asked him.

"I-I, Draco saved my brother's life but he's also my friend. I'm Harry Potter Sir." The blondes raised their eyebrows at that and Harry couldn't help but think how similar they both looked to Draco when they did so. "I'll just go get Madam Pomfrey."

The Malfoys nodded seemingly giving him leave and he hurried to the office and told Madam Pomfrey who had arrived, she hurried out and explained to Draco's parents what had happened and what to expect. Harry meanwhile just sat back down in his chair and took turns between watching Draco and watching Ethan.

Once the Malfoys knew what was going on they both conjured chairs and sat beside their son's bed to wait for him to wake. Harry couldn't help but think that it was no wonder Draco was so beautiful when he had such attractive parents. Mrs Malfoy had long shimmering blonde hair which was tied back in a bun; her skin was a pale ivory and her eyes a periwinkle blue. Mr Malfoy also had long blonde hair but it was more of a silver/blonde than his wife's golden hair. He also had the same silver eyes that Draco did. Both were dressed impeccably in what could only be expensive clothes.

* * *

><p>It was another two hours before James returned looking exhausted and followed by Remus and Sirius who hurried over to check on Ethan. James however moved over to Draco's parents.<p>

"Potter." Mr Malfoy said stiffly and James nodded.

"I want to say that I hope your son is in perfect health when he wakes. I owe him my son's life and I also owe him a debt of gratitude for helping my youngest son so much throughout the year." James said before bowing deeply. The Malfoys looked impressed at this so Harry stood and moved closer, their eyes turned to him.

"I-I feel the same…Draco's been really kind to me and he really has helped me a lot this year. He's my best friend and, and I really hope he's okay." Harry stammered through and he closed his eyes as he bowed, he hadn't truly realised how worried he was over Draco until this moment, the blonde haired Slytherin might never wake up and that scared him more than anything else since Ethan had fallen.

"Thank you for your kind words." Mrs Malfoy said softly turning her eyes back to her son. "I would never have thought my son would become a friend to a Potter. But when I was younger I never believed a Black could either."

Sirius looked up at his name, until now he had pointedly ignored the Malfoys but he gave Mrs Malfoy a strange look.

"Harry's a halfblood you know?" He snapped and it was Mr Malfoy who glared at Sirius now.

"So is Severus, so was Tom Riddle." He said sharply. "Our names were cleared after the Dark Lord fell. He was half mad and threatened Narcissa and our unborn child. What would you have done?"

Sirius looked like he was about to shout something but Remus placed a calming hand on Sirius' arm and shook his head. Sirius just took a deep breath and turned back to Ethan. Harry felt like he was missing something big but he didn't have a long time to think on it as Draco stirred in the bed. He was instantly at the side of the bed and watching closely for another reaction.

Draco groaned and shifted his head slightly, his arm moved as if he was going to reach up to touch his head.

"Draco?" Mrs Malfoy whispered placing her hand over her son's.

"That's the last time I do something nice for a Gryffindor." Harry couldn't help but laugh at that, it was such a Slytherin thing to say. Draco opened his silver eyes and looked around. "Mother, Father…why are you here?"

"Because you in your idiotic attempt at heroism almost left you with brain damage." Mr Malfoy said harshly but Harry could see the tight lines around his mouth and eyes which showed his relief at Draco's awareness and the worry at what could have been.

"Sorry." Draco mumbled before frowning. "Mhhm my head hurts."

"I'm not surprised at that Mr Malfoy." Madam Pomfrey had entered and instantly began to check over Draco. "Thank Merlin. You seem to have no lasting damage, none that I can scan for anyway but if you find yourself with any loss of control over your limbs or your reactions are slower than usual you are to come straight to me is that clear?"

"Yes Ma'am." Draco said softly, closing his eyes.

"You can sleep now Draco. We will see you when you wake." Mrs Malfoy said and Draco nodded.

"Night." He said and with seemingly no effort he fell back into unconsciousness, this time willingly.

"I have to go to the common room. I'll be back after dinner." Harry said. The adults all nodded and Harry before he left turned back to face them. "It was nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Malfoy."

He hurried from the room before they could reply. He made his way to the Slytherin common room, Pansy had threatened death after all if he hadn't come down to tell her that Draco was awake.


	10. The Boy Who Shopped (Again)

Chapter Ten – The-Boy-Who-Shopped (Again)

The holidays had begun. Harry always remembered Christmas as a time when Dudley got lots of presents, the house needed much more cleaning and he stayed in his cupboard most of the time as Aunt Petunia liked to have guests over a lot, Uncle Vernon had family come over, most of them as big as him. One, Aunt Marge, Dudley had called her, was even bigger than Vernon was. The only good thing about Christmas was the fact that he did not have to cook the meal; Aunt Petunia refused to let him out of the cupboard between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

He was sitting in his father's rooms as James finished packing up his rooms, apparently they weren't staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, instead they were going to a place called Potter Manor. According to Ethan it was one of the smallest Manors that the Potter's owned but James and Ethan liked it better because it was cosier.

Harry looked around the living room a few suitcases were scattered around, Harry had only one but Ethan had told him that at some point they were going shopping to fill up a whole wardrobe and to fill Harry's room, because Harry was going to have a proper room in the Manor. Ethan had already picked out Harry's room which was apparently just down the corridor from his own.

"Everyone ready to go?" James asked with his hands on his hips as he looked around at their belongings.

"Ready!" Ethan cried happily pulling his suitcase forward to the fireplace; you would never have guessed that just a few weeks ago he had been lying in a hospital bed. Apparently the fire was a way to travel in the Wizarding World and Harry was not looking forward to it.

"Ethan you go through first, I'll pass the suitcases through and then I'll send Harry through." James said and Ethan bounced happily over to the flames. He threw a handful of what was called floo powder onto them and they turned a deep green. Ethan then climbed onto them and shouted:

"Potter Manor." With a flash of green he was gone. James then did the same with the suitcases. Harry however stood well back even when James called him closer. He had a strong fear of fire, there had been a fireplace in the Dursleys and Vernon had used it as threat enough times that he knew to stand well clear of it.

"It's perfectly safe Harry. I would let you do it if it weren't." James said gently as he pulled Harry over. "You just have to remember to say Potter Manor very clearly. It'll be fine and I'm coming straight after you."

Harry nodded and picked up a handful of the powder, some slid through his fingers but he managed to get most of it in the fireplace. The flames glowed green and Harry slowly stepped through surprised as the flames felt cool against his skin.

"Potter Manor." Before he had even finished the phrase a feeling of being spun around hundreds of times came over him, he couldn't gasp as the air was drew away from him and too quickly the world stopped spinning and with a jolt he fell flat on his face out of a different fireplace.

"Whoa Harry, I've never seen anyone except Dad fall out of the floo like that before." Ethan laughed helping his green-faced twin to his feet. Harry swayed a few times as he tried to get his bearings. Soon enough he was sat on a sofa and watched for James to come out of the fireplace.

He soon did, making his trip out of it look ever so slightly more graceful than Harry's fall. James coughed and brushed the soot from his shoulders.

"Well Harry, how would you like a tour?" James asked grinning and looking as giddy as Ethan.

Harry didn't know how Ethan could say that Potter Manor was small. His bedroom alone was the same size as the whole bottom floor of the Dursleys' house. He didn't know what he was going to do to fill the room up. What made Harry jump however was Tilly and Netty the two house elves who worked for the Potter, sure he had heard about the creatures but seeing them was something completely different. Both of the two elves stared at him for a long time. Tilly's eyes flitting up to his scar before they smiled mysteriously at each other and popped away.

* * *

><p>Two days into the holiday and Harry still couldn't get over the size of the Manor. They were sitting in the library, how any house with a library could be small Harry didn't know. Harry was slowly making his way through a book on herbology, his second favourite subject at Hogwarts, only Potions was more interesting to him. He loved the ability to mix two completely unrelated substances together and create something new that would cause something else to happen and Herbology was almost like an extension of Potions learning what different properties the plants had.<p>

"You ready to go boys?" They both looked up. James was standing in the doorway and he froze as he was struck with the realisation that they were so alike. Both boys were picking up habits off of the other and while Harry was still much smaller there was no doubt that they were identical twins.

"Yeah Dad." Ethan said grinning as he threw down his book onto his seat, Harry almost winced at the rough treatment of the book and placed his gently onto the side table before doing the same to Ethan's book and he followed James and Ethan to the floo fireplace, he followed Ethan through shouting Diagon Alley.

He fell out once more and gasped for breath closely followed by his Father who almost tripped over him. Harry helped steady the tall man causing Ethan to burst out laughing at the sight.

"Just because you didn't inherit my clumsy genes does not mean you get to make fun of them!" James cried indignantly, hitting his older son upside the head. Harry laughed before he was pulled by Ethan out into the street.

"Me and Harry are going to buy your present so don't follow us!" Ethan cried dragging Harry down the street, just barely slow enough to hear James shout to meet him in Flourish and Blotts in an hour's time.

"Ethan I don't have any money." Harry said once they stopped. He felt guilty for not being able to buy any gifts for his family.

"So, neither do I. Well none of my own anyway, we're using the family vaults." Ethan said simply. "It's our money to do with what we want. That's why we have to go to Gringotts first, and we can get you your own key cut to match mine."

Ethan pulled a key out from his pocket, it was small and gold and he showed it to Harry quickly before putting it away and once more dragging Harry to the largest building there was in Diagon Alley. Harry froze as he saw the creatures working behind the desks. They looked like meaner, bigger forms of house elves.

"Don't worry about them, they're goblins and while they look scary they're also the best creatures you could trust to keep your money safe." Ethan explained going up to one desk which was large and ornate with gold edging. "Hey Gripnol, this is my brother Harry. Harry this is Gripnol of House Ragnack"

"Master Potter." Gripnol bowed his head to Ethan before turning to Harry, his eyes flitted up to the scar. "Master Harry Potter. It is an honour to meet one of such an affluent family. May your gold stay safe and multiply."

Harry assumed this was a proper goblin greeting so he nodded his head back.

"It's an honour to meet you too Gripnol, Sir…Uh…may your gold multiply and grow and never be stolen." Harry said awkwardly. A small smile graced the goblin's face which did nothing but make it look fiercer.

"Thank you for the honour of your courtesies Master Potter." Gripnol said before turning to Ethan. "I assume you wish to draw money?"

"Yeah and cut a key for Harry." Ethan explained. Gripnol nodded and beckoned them forward. They went behind his desk and into what looked like a crate. Harry sat beside Ethan and only once in did he realise that there was nothing beneath them. He leant over and stared down into the darkness, Ethan pulled him back and kept hold of his arm. "You might want to hold on."

There was barely time for the warning and Harry squeaked as the crate jerked forward at surprising speed throwing Harry and Ethan around like socks in a washing machine. It only took Harry a few moments to gain his bearings and then he was grinning like a fool as the air rushed past and they were flying through the darkness. It felt almost as good as flying. It was such an amazing rush to feel as though he could fall at any time yet to know he was completely safe.

The ride finished too soon for Harry and he could see from the look on his twin's face that Ethan had felt that same rush, his cheeks flushed and a grin firm on his face.

The goblin motioned to Ethan who took his key out and slotted into a small hole in the wall. Harry soon forgot the flying rush as the wall opened to reveal what must have been thousands of galleons worth of money stacked in piles.

"This is what Dad calls the family vault but it's not really. It's like our 'common vault' I suppose but our proper family vault has all of our heirlooms and everything in it not really money." Ethan said before grabbing a large handful of the galleons and shoving them in a bag Gripnol had produced. "This'll be enough for both of us."

Harry nodded, his eyes still wide at the show of gold.

"Thanks Gripnol. Is it okay if we leave my key here and come back at the end of the day?" Ethan asked and Gripnol nodded taking the key as he locked it and placing it carefully in a pouch around his neck.

They climbed back into the crate and shot off. Harry was still grinning as he held on tightly and rattled around the underground of Gringotts.

He was breathless once more as they climbed out of the crate. On wobbling legs they made their way out of the bank and Ethan dragged Harry to a number of shops looking for presents after giving Harry half of the money he had withdrawn.

In the hour he spent with Ethan he had managed to find his Father a new set of quidditch gloves while Ethan bought him broom polish and they both bought him a new set of quidditch balls since Harry had mentioned when they played quidditch the day before that his were a bit 'used' for lack of a better word.

While in the quidditch shop Harry found a new style of dragonhide quidditch gloves for Pansy and as a joke he bought Blaise a toy snitch. Remus was bought books since they both knew that he would appreciate them more than anything else they could buy. He also found a book on practical magic that he knew Theo would appreciate

When Ethan dragged him to the sweet shop he bought a box of chocolates and toffees for Crabbe and Goyle and Millicent.

He had bought Sirius a platinum bracelet (after Ethan had hit the silver one out of his hand yelling that Sirius hated silver), Ethan bought him a toy dog making fun of his animagus form, in the jewellery shop he had also found a simple necklace with a small white gold star as a pendant and he bought it for Daphne hoping he had found the right gift, he wasn't sure what to give girls but Ethan said that he was sure she would love it and he had bought Hermione something similar.

The only people he had not brought presents for were Draco and Ethan but he knew what to buy his brother he just had to wait to go back and buy it when he wasn't with his twin. He wanted to give Draco something good but nothing he had seen so far would match up to the blonde's standards.

He decided to think on it as they found Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour where James was waiting for them. They had shoved all of their presents into an enlarged Flourish and Blotts bag since James knew they would buy books for Remus.

"So have you got everyone's presents?" James asked and both boys shook their heads.

"We need to get each other's and Harry has to get Draco Malfoy something." Ethan said and James nodded before grinning and taking out his wand.

_ "Expecto Patronum!"_ He cast and a silver stag burst free from the end to stand next to Ethan who was eating an extremely large ice cream. "Ethan you stay here while I go with Harry to get the rest of his presents and then I'll do the same for you."

Ethan nodded and just continued eating his ice cream.

"So Harry, what do you want to get Ethan and the Malfoy boy?" James asked.

"Draco… I'm not sure on. But I thought I could get Ethan a book I saw in the Quidditch shop of all of the top quidditch players of the century and their best moves." Harry explained and James nodded, it was the perfect gift for his son. They went to the shop and bought that first before wandering the shops to find something for Draco.

"Maybe jewellery for him, he seems like the type to wear jewellery." James laughed and Harry nodded walking into the store. He looked around.

"Hello young Master Potter. I saw you earlier today. Did you forget something?" The owner came over.

"I need something for my friend but I don't want to get him anything girly." Harry explained and the owner nodded pursing his lips in thought before going to the back room. He came back out holding a small box.

"This is a charm bracelet for men. Each charm bought for the bracelet will have a different charm on it." The owner said placing a simple silver linked chain on the counter. Harry looked at it, he could definitely see Draco wearing it.

"Can I see a few charms that would attach to it?" Harry asked and the owner conjured a box with many charms in it. Harry instantly saw three that he knew Draco would love. One was a snake coiled in a circle, the charm on it he was told repelled minor illnesses, one was a four leafed clover, the charm gave luck and the third was a simple emerald which gave protection from weak curses. "I'll take it and those three charms please."

Harry paid for the bracelet and he still had money to spare as he was led back to the ice cream parlour. He sat and waited only for a very short time for Ethan and James to come back. When they did James had a strange smile on his face. After that they hurried home it getting close to dinner time, neither of the house elves liked it when they were late.

* * *

><p>It was four days before Christmas when Harry got the owl at breakfast. It was a large eagle owl and he knew that it belonged to Draco.<p>

"Hello Artemis." Harry said stroking the owl's head and giving him a rash of bacon; the owl cooed at him and held out his leg with a letter attached for Harry. Harry took it and watched for a moment as Artemis flew over to where Hedwig and Ethan's owl, Thane were perching.

"Whose owl is that?" James asked through a mouthful of toast.

"Draco's." Harry said softly turning the letter over in his hands. He had seen other Slytherins get letter like this over the year, made from personalised stationary of good quality and sealed with a wax seal. He felt almost reluctant to break the silver seal with the intricate 'M' stamped onto it, but he dug his nail under it and opened the silky white paper.

_The most Noble and Honourable House of Malfoy _

_requests the pleasure of your company_

_to a ball to celebrate the Eve of the New Year_

_in our home Malfoy Manor_

_to begin at six o'clock and to end after the strike of Midnight._

_Please R.S.V.P via Owl._

_A Black tie event, _

_Food will be served in the form of a meal._

"What is it?" Ethan asked peering over the edge of the paper. "An invitation."

"Yeah, to a ball for the New Year." Harry said. He placed the paper down on the table only to notice a second sheet hidden behind the first.

_Harry,_

_ My Mother refused to let me send you an informal invitation but I hope you are able to attend. The only thing which makes the evening bearable is having my friends there but I understand if you want to spend your first New Years with your family. Just send a reply with Artemis or Hedwig._

_ Yours Faithfully,_

_Draco Malfoy._

"Well, do you want to go?" James asked and Harry looked up. It would not only by his first New Year with his family it would be his first time to be allowed to celebrate the New Year in itself. "It's not a big deal if you do, we'll have all of Christmas together anyway."

"Would I be allowed to go?" Harry asked hopefully and James took the invitation in hand and read it through.

"I can't see the harm in it." James said.

Harry grinned as he penned a reply, trying his best to keep his handwriting neat. He had grown much better at reading but writing he still struggled with. Once he was satisfied with his response he attached his letter to Artemis' leg and let the bird fly, it was only then that he realised he had nothing to wear.

* * *

><p>"Harry! Get up, get up!" Harry groaned and opened his eyes to find the cause of his disturbance jumping up and down on his bed. Ethan was grinning from ear to ear and seemed a few seconds away from shaking Harry to wake him.<p>

"What's wrong?" Harry mumbled sleepily.

"It's Christmas Harry! Christmas! You have to help me wake up Dad so we can go open the presents!" Harry nodded taking a deep breath to wake himself up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He allowed himself to be dragged from his bed and into his Father's room, from the look outside the window it was extremely early. Earlier than even Harry himself usually woke.

"DAD!" Ethan screamed taking a flying leap at the bed. Harry watched as James woke with a startled grunt and tried to make sense of the early morning however as soon as he realised what the day was he became just as excited as Ethan was. He actually levitated Harry and Ethan down the stairs yelling 'Merry Christmas!" as he went.

Sirius and Remus were staying over for Christmas in the guest rooms and James burst into the room floating Ethan and Harry after him. Both Sirius and Remus had grabbed for their wands before realising what was going on, Harry could help but notice that they were sleeping in the same bed but it had been cold these last few days he supposed. Remus seemed to react much like Harry had as they followed the bouncing Christmas fanatics down to the tree.

The House elves were already up and ready with hot chocolate for them by the tree which James had insisted he help decorate, it looked like a Christmas elf had thrown up over it but James and Sirius had declared it beautiful while Remus just shook his head and laughed and Ethan had run around giving everyone cookies so Harry thought it was okay.

The tree was stocked full of presents beneath it and Harry's eyes widened, it was more than even what Dudley got every year and Dudley got at least thirty six presents or he threw a fit.

"Everyone grab a present." James yelled diving into the pile, his hair sticking up in every-which-way much like Ethan's was and what Harry thought his hair might look like. He smoothed his own down in an attempt at normality. Remus sat down in an armchair and waited as Sirius followed James into the pile.

"Here's yours Moonshine." Sirius sang throwing Remus a present which landed with a thud on Remus' lap. Remus grunted and glared at Sirius who just grinned back at him. Ethan came back out from under the tree pushing what seemed to be all of his own presents; he stacked them around him before ripping into them. James did the same, and Sirius contented himself with opening one at a time throwing the occasional present at Remus.

The routine seemed so familiar to them. They must have done it every year and Harry couldn't help but feel like an intruder.

"Hey Cub, come sit by me. Padfoot throw us some of Harry's." Remus said beckoning Harry over. Sirius passed many presents over and Harry looked at all of them with wide eyes.

"I have so many." He whispered.

"Well, you've got lots from us and then you've got the presents from your friends." Remus said as Harry perched by Remus' feet where a steady pile of books was growing.

Harry slowly reached for the first present as though it would bite him. It was small and round and from Pansy. He carefully unwrapped it to reveal his very own snitch, it unfurled in his palm to reveal the engraved script which showed his name, it was silver instead of the usual gold and must have cost a lot of money. A small note was attached to one wing.

_Use it as practise to beat the Gryffindorks at the end of the year._

_Love, Pansy_

"Wow, who's that from?" Ethan asked leaning over his pile of presents.

"Pansy." Harry said smiling. "She's says I should use it too practise beating the Gryffindors at the end of the year."

Instantly three mock glares were shot at him but he just smiled and reached for his next present, noticing that Ethan was ducking as his godfather threw the toy dog he had gotten him at him. Remus thanked them both for the book.

Blaise had got Harry a miniature wizard's chess set charmed so the white side would move of its own accord, Harry laughed when he got this. Blaise had been trying unsuccessfully to teach him how to play chess and Harry was terrible at it. Theo had bought him a book on magical plants and their use in different potions, it was an amazing find and Harry had to be torn away from it after reading it for five minutes. Daphne had got him quidditch gloves and Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent had all sent him a different box of treacle flavoured candies, his favourite flavour.

Harry had to laughed when he opened Ethan's present, it was a book, but it was the same book he had bought his twin. They had both got the same present for each other. Remus had got him a brand new quill and ink set with a new hand bound writing book. Sirius had bought him what seemed to be a box of pranking toys to be used Sirius had hissed when 'Remus couldn't see them!'

The next present Harry opened was from Draco, he frowned as he saw what lay within it was a small leather bound book and a bright emerald quill. He opened the book and a note fell out.

_Use the book as a journal, there's a privacy spell on it and no one will be able to get into it (not even me). There is also a charm to make the ink from the quill never blot. Hopefully it will improve your handwriting._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Draco_

Harry gently closed the book and ran his hand over the cover. It was an amazing gift.

"Now I'm sure you're wondering why neither of you have presents from me." James said smirking. "Well I do have a few. The first two well, they're a joint present."

He dove under the tree once more before emerging, pulling something which appeared to be invisible after him.

"This served us well over the years in school. Well, here." James said thrusting the invisible object at them. Harry frowned as he felt fabric between his fingers and gasped when they disappeared under what seemed to be a cloak.

"Wow, the invisibility cloak!" Ethan yelled. "Thanks Dad!"

"That's not all." James said smirking. He pulled a piece of paper from under his pyjama shirt and handed it over to Harry who held it up and spun it around, he was sure the look on his face must have showed his confusion and it might have been identical to Ethan's who gave him a look as if to ask 'do you know what it is'.

"Try pointing your wand and it and saying 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good'." Sirius said grinning widely.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Ethan said after he had run upstairs to get his wand. Slowly ink spread from his wand making some form of pattern. Their eyes widened as they realised it created the school and they widened further when they saw the names of people, there were only a bare minimum of people but enough that they saw the purpose of the map.

"Don't cause too much trouble with them." Remus said smiling.

"I thought that one of you could have one and one of you the other and if you needed to switch it wouldn't be hard." James said. Ethan grabbed the invisibility cloak and threw it over the two of them, he held the map between the two of them and they began to study it. Dumbledore and McGonagall were in his office they must be opening their own presents.

After all of their presents were stacked carefully into their own piles they all made their way into the kitchen where the house elves were already preparing Christmas dinner. Remus made pancakes while Sirius _tried_ to help.

Harry sat silently at the table and ate his pancakes watching everyone else interacting with one another. James was conjuring whipped cream and having a war with Sirius who was conjuring chocolate sauce and levitating it over to the table and over James' head. Then they both grinned evilly and levitated the cream and chocolate over Remus' head.

"If you want any more pancakes for the rest of your life you will move it away." Remus did not even look away from his cooking. Ethan snorted into his milk.

"So Harry, how are you enjoying a normal Potter Christmas?" Ethan asked as the adults went into a full condiment fight complete with chocolate sprinkles.

"This is normal?"


	11. The Boy Who Danced

Chapter Eleven- The-Boy-Who-Danced

Harry smoothed down his robes; they were a bottle green which Remus had bought for him the day before. Sirius had helped him choose the flowers to give to Mrs Malfoy and the wine to give to Mr Malfoy since according to Sirius you never turned up to a pureblood party without some sort of gift, he had already owled Draco his Christmas present so he wouldn't have to bring anything for him.

"Ready to go, we have to apparate to the front gates so they know you're there." James said walking Harry out of Potter Manor. He then held Harry close and apparated. Harry gasped as they landed. Instantly a house elf popped up in front of them.

"Masters Potter. It is an honour; the great and Noble House of Malfoy are honoured by your presence. Dobby will alert Dobby's master to Harry Potter's arrival." It said its ears so large they seemed almost to touch his shoulders.

"Thank you." Harry said bowing his head. The elf popped out and Harry gripped James' hand tightly, this Manor was at least double the size of Potter Manor, the door itself was so tall Harry had to crane his neck back to see the top of it.

"Hello Messrs Potter." Harry smiled politely up at the Malfoy elders. They stood there, Mrs Malfoy looking radiant in a blue silk gown; Mr Malfoy wore black dress robes with the Malfoy crest sown into the breast.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Malfoy. Thank you for inviting me." He held up the flowers and the wine and a smile lit up Mrs Malfoy's face. She took the flowers which were daffodils since Sirius said women liked to be given gifts that made them think they thought of them. Daffodils were of the Narcissus family. Mr Malfoy must have thought the wine was good as he hummed and nodded.

"Welcome to our home."

"Thank you." Harry smiled weakly, he was nervous, he had never been to a friend's home before and it would be a formal meal, he had no idea how to act. James quickly said goodbye and apparated out, the wards allowing him as they had recognised him as a guest.

"Dobby will take you to Draco and his friends." Mrs Malfoy said giving him a polite smile as the house elf popped back and walked him through the manor's door. Harry followed quickly as they finally reached a parlour where Draco and the other Slytherin's were lounging apparently the meal wouldn't start for another half hour.

"Hey." Harry said smiling uncertainly as all of their eyes snapped to him.

"Well…you clean up good." Daphne said before jumping up. "Thank you for my necklace!"

"You're welcome." Harry was just glad that she liked it, she was wearing it. Draco he also noticed was wearing his charm bracelet and it caught the light every time he moved.

"Come sit Harry, I'm glad you could come." Draco said smiling at him and Harry smiled back, happy that Draco had liked the gift also.

"Thank you for my presents, I really liked them all." Harry smiled and Pansy cooed at him pulling him down on the sofa between herself and Draco.

"So we thought that we'd better brief you about what was going to happen tonight since you've never been to a Malfoy ball before." Blaise drawled. "Basically we don't have to worry about the meal since Mrs Malfoy always insists that we be allowed to eat alone to enjoy some of tonight. Then Dobby will come and get us and we have to smooze, be prepared for lots of old people coming up and pinching your cheeks."

"What does smooze mean?" Harry asked frowning.

"Basically it means that you have to socialise, and you're going to be under a lot of scrutiny tonight since it's your first Malfoy ball which will mean a lot of people won't have seen you before and you'll be under even more scrutiny for the fact that you're a Potter, the last Potter to attend one of these balls was your great grandparents apparently." Draco said shrugging.

Harry nodded and it wasn't long before Dobby, the house elf from before with extremely big ears came to call them for dinner. Draco led them to a dining room which was so large it made the Potter's main dining room look like a child's playroom. The table was large and made of some ornately carved black wood and all of the place settings were made from silver or so Blaise claimed.

They sat down with Draco at the head of the table and Blaise at his right, Pansy at his left, the other Slytherins filled in the spaces seemingly automatically leaving the space next to Blaise free for Harry, the seating arrangements seemed to have some sort of order to it but Harry had no idea what so he just sat where he was allocated and waited for the meal.

It turned out the meal was a five course affair; to start they had a small cheese fondue with different breads to dip as an appetizer followed by a salad which Harry found extremely nice since it was dressed with some sort of sauce which tasted spicy but nice. The main course was smoked salmon which was a pink fish which Harry had never eaten before but loved it instantly and for dessert there was a chocolate pudding which Harry couldn't imagine the adult guests eating.

"So off we go to smooze and rub some old wrinkly elbows then?" Pansy laughed as she linked arms with Blaise and they followed Draco who led their group into what appeared to be a ballroom.

Harry was instantly taken away by all of the colour, the men generally wore black dress robes but some wore coloured ones like Harry but all of the women were dressed in gowns of every colour imaginable. It wasn't long before Draco's mother spotted them.

"Draco darling, how was your dinner?"

"Wonderful as usual Mother." Before Harry could protest he had been pushed by Pansy to the front of their group next to Draco. "I haven't formally introduced you to my friend Harry Potter. Harry Potter this is Narcissa Malfoy, Lady of the most noble and honourable house of Malfoy my mother. Mother, this is Harry Potter, of the House of Potter."

Narcissa bowed her head to Harry who floundered for a second before remembering when he first met her. He bowed down until his body was horizontal to the floor hoping it was good manners, the Slytherins should have prepared him for this. He looked up to see not only Mrs Malfoy looking impressed but half of the guest giving him interested looks.

"It's nice to see you again Ma'am." He said feeling so nervous under the scrutiny of the room that his knees were shaking. To his surprise she laughed and patted his arm.

"Under much more pleasant circumstances than when we last met I'm sure." She gave him a smirk that was so similar to Draco's it was uncanny. "I will find my husband and bring him to meet you."

She left in a sweep of the blue silk she was robed in and Harry turned back to his friends to see them all look like they wanted to burst into laughter.

"I think that was the best reception my Mother has ever given to anyone. She didn't even make any small talk before going to get my Father." Draco seemed slightly shell shocked.

"Why didn't any of you tell me what to do?" Harry asked his eyes wide and his narrowly missed humiliation.

"We aren't allowed by pureblood etiquette, you have to make the first impression by yourself, you did really well by the way. Honouring the Malfoy family with the deepness of your bow." Draco said a small smile lighting up his face as if he was pleased by the fact.

"You could have warned me though!" Harry said his eyes wide as he breathed deeply to calm himself.

"And miss the fun I don't think so." Daphne laughed linking her arm with Harry's. "Let's dance, I'll teach you the basic steps."

She dragged him onto the floor where a few people were dancing. She led him through the basic waltz and they were soon joined by Pansy and Draco. At the end of the song both Pansy and Daphne smirked at each other and grabbed each other to dance with. Draco and Harry looked at each other for a moment before Draco grinned and bowed low.

"May I have the honour Master Potter?" Harry laughed and took the same position he had with Pansy; they only danced for half of the song and were both laughing as they hurried off of the dance floor to where Blaise was laughing just as loud as them at them.

An hour in and Harry was wandering through the corridors of the manor looking for the toilet, Draco had been commandeered by some relative or another and Pansy had directed him. But the third door on the right had been a coat closet so Harry was searching. He turned a corner only to fall back onto the floor as he walked straight into somebody. He looked up prepared to apologise, his mouth fell open.

"P-Professor Snape sir!" Harry cried. "I'm sorry!"

"Just climb off of the floor Potter." Snape raised an eyebrow and held out a hand. Harry took it, surprised by how warm and dry the hand was. Harry quickly brushed out the creases in his robes.

"I'm really sorry sir!" Harry said biting his lip.

"It was not your fault Potter; I trust you are not harmed as you were the one who actually fell to the ground." Harry shook his head bewildered at what his Potions Professor was doing in the Malfoy's party. "Now what were you doing roaming the corridors instead of _frolicking_ in the ballroom with your friends?"

"I…uh…I was searching for the toilet Sir." Harry said. Snape sighed.

"Follow me." Without another word he turned on his heel and walked down the corridor slightly further. He stopped in front of a door and beckoned Harry to it. "I trust you can find your way back."

"Yes Sir, thank you Sir." Harry said before hurrying into the bathroom. When he was done and made his way back the Professor had gone. Draco was back to their friends who were now perched along one wall.

"What took you so long Harry?" Blaise drawled. "Fall down the loo?"

"No." Harry said rolling his eyes before turning to Draco. "I ran into Professor Snape in the corridor, why is he here?"

"He's my godfather; he and my Father have been friends since they were our age." Draco shrugged and Harry nodded, so Snape was to Draco like Sirius and Remus were to him and Ethan.

The rest of the evening past enjoyably and at a few minutes before midnight Draco dragged all of his friends up to one of the many balconies of Malfoy Manor as they waited for the fireworks that they had ordered.

It was the most spectacular thing Harry had ever been a part of, all of the glitz and glamour and when he went home half an hour later he fell into his bed exhausted but with a smile on his face.


	12. The Boy Who Walked In

Chapter Twelve – The-Boy-Who-Will-Stay

Harry had noticed something different about his Father after the first few weeks back to school. He seemed distracted and unable to concentrate, his lessons were all practical as if he didn't have time to mark their theory and he was snappish. Remus and Sirius he noted as well looked nervous around James and both frequently gave each other worried glances. Even Ethan seemed to know what was going on but Harry was left out of the loop and he decided that it was time he did something about it.

He knew that out of his family Ethan would be the most likely to tell him so on Friday night (which they had both decided every week to spend with each other to avoid a repeat of the troll incident) when they were both in the Gryffindor Common room he asked.

"Is something wrong?" Ethan looked up and shook his head frantically back and forth; Harry frowned as he saw Hermione frown at his twin and Ron look away. It seemed that they knew too. "What's the matter? You've all been acting strange around me! Have I done something?"

"No Harry! Nothing's wrong!" Ethan tried to convince him. Hermione shot Ethan a sharp look which no eleven year old had any right to be able to have.

"Tell him, he needs to know, it affects both of you!" She snapped and Ethan shot her a dirty look. Harry turned to her.

"Tell me, what's going on?" He demanded of her and she opened her mouth to reply.

"Don't say a thing! It doesn't concern you Hermione." Ethan growled at his best friend.

"Mate, maybe it's best if Harry knew." Ron said and Ethan turned his glare onto the redhead.

"Nothing is going on!" He yelled drawing the attention of the whole common room. "Nothing is going to happen so both of you just shut your mouths about it!"

Without another word Ethan stormed upstairs to the boys' dormitories, they could all hear the slamming of the door from where they sat. Both Hermione and Ron were now looking down at their hands in their laps and Harry knew without saying anything more that they wouldn't tell him anything, as Draco would have said they _were_ Gryffindors after all and they were nothing if not loyal. So instead Harry left the common room to leave Ethan sometime to cool down and walked instead to his Father's rooms, he knew for certain something was going on now. Something which concerned him and he was going to find it out no matter what.

* * *

><p>Sirius answered the door to James' rooms and he was let in with a smile. Remus and James were talking in the living room, both stopped as they saw him.<p>

"Hey Cub, what're you doing here? Isn't this meant to be your night with Ethan?" Remus asked before a frown worried his face slightly. "You didn't have a fight did you?"

"Sort of…" He wondered how to bring it up without them getting angry about it like Ethan had. "I asked him why you were all acting so strange around me and he got angry and then Hermione told him that I had a right to know and then Ethan stormed away and I came here. I want to know what is happening."

The adults looked to one another uneasily before James sighed and placed his head in his hands, he looked up at his son who looked so similar to him except the green eyes, those eyes that had betrayed him eleven years ago and now were still haunting his every moment.

"…It's your Mother." He finally said softly and Harry frowned. He only had one recollection of the woman and that was their brief meeting in the Hospital Wing. "After she…she gave you up I knew I could never forgive her and we fought constantly which wasn't healthy for Ethan so I filed for a divorce. She refused and made it difficult but since she had given you away the Courts were in my favour and I got full custody of Ethan with the allowance that she be allowed to see Ethan six times a year at my choosing."

Harry nodded; Blaise had explained to him what divorce was when he mentioned that he lived with his Mother and her interchangeable husbands. He had guessed that his parents were divorced from the fact that he had only once seen his Mother.

"What does this have to do with the way everyone is acting?" He didn't understand.

"Your Mother has petitioned the Courts for full custody of you and Ethan during the holidays." Comprehension dawned on Harry slowly; the woman who had given him up now wanted him back, but why?

"I get why she would want Ethan back but why me?" He asked frowning. "If she didn't want me in the first place why would she want me now?"

A murderous look crossed James face for a moment at the thought that his son thought he wasn't wanted but he hid it quickly before Harry mistook the meaning.

"She says that I am not a fit guardian based on how often you and Ethan have been hurt during the last couple of months." He watched Harry's face for a reaction, the one he got wasn't what he was expecting.

"But none of that was your fault!" Harry cried. "I mean I went to hide in the bathroom when the troll was out and someone else cursed Ethan to fall!"

"We know that Harry but the way that Lily is spinning the stories means that the Courts are more likely to look in her favour than not." Remus explained and Harry shook his head.

"But I don't want to live with her! I want to live with all of you, like we did at Christmas!" He said closing his eyes tightly as tears threatened to build behind his eyes.

"That's why we aren't going to let her take you kid." Sirius said placing his hands firmly on his godson's shoulders and forcing him to look up. "We love you and we are not going to let you or Ethan be taken away from us again no matter what!"

Harry nodded and leant forward to lean his head on Sirius' shoulder reaching out to hug him. He didn't know how he could cope if he was taken away from his family. Remus and James joined in on the hug and they stayed that way for a long moment before pulling away, James discreetly rubbing his eyes.

"Now, it's almost curfew you better be getting back to the Slytherin dorms." Remus said and Harry nodded smiling up at him.

"See you tomorrow." He chirped before running out of the rooms and back down to his dormitories.

"What's got you so happy?" Draco drawled dryly from his place by the fire. Harry just shrugged and curled up in 'his' own armchair. Draco was the only first year in the Common room and he stared for a long time at Harry who tilted his head.

"What?"

"You just look annoyingly happy." Draco sneered and Harry just rolled his eyes, Draco liked to make out that he didn't like anyone to act happy around him but they all knew it was a front that he had imitated from Professor Snape at a young age and hadn't grown out of yet. Though looking at Snape, Draco might never grow out of it.

"I am." He grinned and Draco rolled his eyes back.

"The Gryffindorks have infected you in the time you've been up in that tower. It's bad for your health I tell you." The smirk gave away the fact that he was joking. "Anyway… I'm going to follow our fellow first years up to bed, care to join me?"

Harry rolled his eyes once again and made a big show of following Draco up to bed.

* * *

><p>Harry ran through the corridors, it was March the 10th Remus' birthday and he had ordered a supply of Honeydukes' Finest milk chocolate and a book Remus had shown an interest in a few weeks ago. He had asked Pansy's advice at wrapping it as she had helped him wrap Blaise's birthday present, so it was looking pristine and perfect that he had been so excited to see Remus' expression when he got it; even Sirius had said that he wished he had thought of the idea as a gift.<p>

"Happy birthd-" Harry cut his shout off midway. Remus and Sirius were in the living area of their quarters, they didn't have separate living quarters but Harry had never spared a thought to that before. They were both naked and Sirius was on top of Remus, doing what Uncle Vernon had called the 'good boy game'. "I'm so sorry!"

"Harry!" Remus and Sirius yelped both hurrying to find something to cover themselves with. Harry turned and ran.

He found the alcove he had holed himself up in many times at the beginning of the year when things got too much and he needed a few moments alone away from everyone else, now he needed to go there to think. He hadn't been punished since he had been taken away from the Dursleys and although Ethan had told him that no one ever got hit or punished in the way that the Dursleys had punished him but obviously he had just been lying, he didn't know that adults could get punished too.

"Harry?" Harry's head snapped up to see Sirius was kneeling before him, Remus close behind. Both of their cheeks were red and both didn't seem to be able to look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I walked in on you." He whispered.

"It's no problem Harry; it's our fault for not doing…it in our bedroom." Remus ran his hands over his eyes in what seemed like embarrassment.

"Now I'm sure we'll all laugh about this many times in the future." Sirius said already pushing past his own embarrassment to grin at Harry who stared at him incredulously.

"Why would I laugh at you punishing Remus?" He asked not believing his ears. Sirius and Remus' ears both went red again.

"I wasn't punishing Remus Harry." Sirius said.

"We were…um, we were…" Remus stuttered.

"We were having sex." Sirius stated bluntly and Harry just nodded.

"That's not funny though, when Uncle Vernon…" Harry trailed off at the look on his godfathers' faces.

"When your Uncle did what?" Remus' voice had done that quiet thing he did when someone did something really bad in class.

"Umm…"Harry suddenly realised that what he classed as the good boy game wasn't what they were doing.

"Harry, answer us now." Sirius said sternly.

"Uncle Vernon used to play the good boy game with me to make me better, when I was really bad… like you were doing." He frowned at the look of horror on their faces, but they were doing it too so it couldn't be that bad. At least he didn't think so.

"He what?" They both chorused.

"B-but… you were doing it!" He tried to defend himself.

"Harry what we were doing was completely different!" Sirius seemed offended and angry at the fact that Harry was comparing the two, when in actual fact they were doing the same thing. "Me and Remus were having sex, making love… showing each other how much we love each other! What that bastard did was rape!"

Harry didn't know the meaning of that word and he frowned, surely it was just another word for sex as Remus and Sirius were calling it. His face must have shown his confusion.

"Harry…" Remus took a deep calming breath. "Will you come back to our quarters so we can talk about this without anyone else overhearing…Your Dad needs to hear this too."

Harry nodded still frowning; he didn't understand why they were both so angry. He followed them back to their quarters. On the way Sirius called James on his mirror and told him to meet them. Harry sat down nervously in the large armchair by the fire in their quarters; James stepped through it a moment later.

"What's going on?" He looked worried.

"Harry walked in on us this morning…you know." Sirius gave James a meaningful look and James' mouth opened in a shock 'o' before a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Well, I've done that more than once." He said rolling his eyes and muttering. "Couple of exhibitionists."

"But that's not what we need to talk to you about." Remus stated. "We ran after Harry after putting some clothes on, to explain what was going on…but he thought he already understood. He thought Sirius was punishing me."

"…Oh, you weren't… uh… role playing were you?" James gave a horrified look at the thought of his best friends doing that.

"No, it was simply a happy birthday fu-…" Sirius was cut off as Remus' elbow stabbed into his stomach.

"Harry explained that he thought we were playing something called the 'good boy game'. Something his Uncle played with him." Remus got a disgusted look at this and Harry shrunk back into his chair as his Father turned a horrified look on him.

"He what?" He yelled. "Are you sure?"

"Ask him yourself." Remus said softly and James moved closer to Harry as if he were a frightened animal.

"Harry will you tell me what you told Remus and Sirius." James asked kneeling in front of the arm chair.

"I-I just…what Sirius was doing was like what Uncle Vernon did when I was really bad." Harry bit his lip at the look of anger on all three men's faces. Harry wrapped his arms around his middle. "What does rape mean? It's what Sirius called it."

"Harry…" James sighed rubbing his hand over his eyes tiredly. "What Remus and Sirius were doing this morning is called sex, it's done between two people who love each other. Rape is when someone forces you to have sex with them. Like that bas- Vernon did to you."

"But…he only did it because I was bad!" Harry said. "It was to make me better!"

James' hand covered his eyes for a moment and he gulped slightly as if to swallow certain bad words. When he removed his hand his eyes were shining.

"Harry…no matter the reason he did it, it's rape unless you want to do it and even then you are under legal age to have sex which makes it not only rape but paedophilia." James had shot up and was ranting to himself about how he was going to kill certain people and how there was no way he was going to let Lily or those muggles get away with this.

"Oh." Harry looked down at his knees. "I didn't know that."

He noticed that he still had Remus' birthday present in his grip, it had gone unnoticed in all of the confusion.

"I-I got you this." He held it out to Remus who smiled weakly at Harry taking it into his hands. Remus opened it carefully and his smile widened at Harry into a genuine smile.

"Thanks Harry, this is brilliant!" Remus declared. "I've wanted this since I saw it in the shop!"

"Harry." James had calmed down and was back to Harry's chair. "I will not let them get away with it, I'm going to take them all to Court! But to do that I will need you to give a statement, all that means is that when I go to Court and tell them what happened you need to tell them too."

"…Will that make you all happy?" He asked, he didn't need to do that but if it made his family happy then he would.

"It's not about being happy. It's about those muggles getting punished along with Lily." Sirius said softly.

"Okay…"Harry said nodding, he didn't really understand why but he would do it for his family.


	13. The Boy Who Sneezed

Chapter Thirteen – The-Boy-Who-Sneezed

Harry was ill. He had been ill before and Aunt Petunia had always made him do his chores anyway. He woke up feeling more tired than he was when he went to sleep and his arms and legs were aching and his head felt worse. He got the horrible feeling in his stomach which meant he wouldn't be able to eat anything. He climbed from his bed and made his way down the stairs earlier than anyone else, he dreaded having to concentrate in his lessons today, when he was at the Dursleys he didn't have to worry about what he was doing, he could do them without thinking but each lesson was different and he wasn't able to go through them on auto pilot. He needed to think or his grades would drop and he wouldn't pass his first year of school. He was sure they wouldn't let him back next year.

"Harry?" He looked up to see Pansy standing in front of him. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." He said giving her a weak smile.

"Are you sure, you don't look well."

"I just have a small headache; I'll be fine after breakfast." Harry tried to convince her, he couldn't have a day off either way and he was sure he wasn't allowed to miss classes for anything.

Once everyone had come downstairs they made their way to breakfast where Harry could barely look at any of the food let alone eat anything, he was so concentrated on not throwing up that he didn't see Draco leave the table and walk up the Professors.

He said a few quick words to James who raised his eyebrows and looked over to the Slytherin table. James hurried over.

"Harry, you need to come with me the Hospital Wing." Harry shook his head closing his eyes as the motion made him dizzy. "Harry, it's not an option. You're ill. Madam Pomfrey will probably be able to fix you in a second but you need to come with me okay?"

Harry looked up into James' face before nodding. He allowed himself to be led to the Hospital Wing and sat down on a bed while Madam Pomfrey cast diagnostic spells over him leaving him feeling nauseous from the many colours.

"Oh sweet Merlin." She gasped after one particular spell before she quickly cast a spell which created a large bubble around Harry. "He has an early form of dragon pox."

"I didn't even think that he wouldn't have had the vaccination." James gasped. "What do we do?"

"He'll have to go to St. Mungos immediately before the symptoms get any worse, thankfully we caught it early so he should make a full recovery." The Healer said before hurrying over to her office. "I shall floo ahead to warn them."

"What's dragon pox?" Harry asked biting his lip worriedly.

"It's the magical form of what the muggles used to call small pox. I completely forgot that you wouldn't have had the vaccinations for the muggle diseases." James looked angry at himself until he saw how worried Harry looked. "It'll be fine don't worry; we caught it early which is always good."

"Why am I in a bubble?" Harry asked pressing his hand against the translucent surface, it bent slightly but didn't break.

"Because it's contagious, that means that if someone who doesn't have the vaccination comes into contact with you they'll catch it, though most children will have had the vaccination." James explained softly, sitting as close as he could to Harry.

"Okay, they're ready for him now." Pomfrey said when she came back out of the office. They led Harry who felt weaker by the second into the fireplace and made him throw down the floo powder calling the name of the hospital. He fell through and stumbled dizzily only steadied when his Father came through and helped him. Soon they were surrounded by nurses and Healers who led them to a room. By this time Harry's head was spinning and he was feeling more nauseous than ever.

It seemed the Healer was prepared for this. He had taken away Harry's bubble once they were in the room and summoned a bowl which Harry promptly threw up in. Harry was the guided to the bed and told to try and get some rest after he had drunk a foul tasting potion. He did so without any problems feeling exhausted.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke he felt even worse than before, his head felt stuffy and his nose was blocked while his throat was raw. He opened his eyes and looked around the room he was alone for now. He supposed James had to go to speak to the Healers. Then he glanced down to his skin and stopped breathing for a few moments, he was green. Not just the normal slight tinge that came with being green his whole skin had turned a bright forest green.<p>

He took a deep breath which caught in the back of his throat, he pressed his hands against his nose for a moment before sneezing, yelling out in fear as sparks flew from between his fingers, charring some of his hand.

James came back into the room to find Harry hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Calm down." He said gathering his son into his arms; he had had the vaccination as a child so he was not worried about catching the disease.

"I-I'm green and when I sneezed it turned on fire!" Harry cried after his breathing had returned to normal.

"Yes son, that's the second stage. Luckily the Healers have managed to contain it at that for the moment. The next stage is the worst but hopefully you'll be healed before you get to it." James explained. Harry nodded leaning his head against James' shoulder. "Now, you've been asleep for two days and since it's now Saturday I thought we could get some of your friends here. Ethan has been in everyday and he'd be glad to know that you're up."

Harry nodded nervously; he wondered what his friends would think about his green skin. James smiled and left the room with a promise to be right back. He returned a few minutes later with a crowd made up of his godfathers, his brother and the Slytherin first years. They all crowded around Harry's bed all asking how he felt.

"I'm okay." He said softly feeling very much overwhelmed by all of the attention.

"Are you sure, because you're looking a bit green." Blaise grinned and Harry laughed weakly. Draco sat down beside Harry's hand on the bed and frowned.

"His eyes are dilated, that's not good." He stated and James nodded.

"Yes, the Healer found a stasis spell which worked before he went into the third stage." He explained. Draco nodded but he still looked annoyed that Harry had even managed to get Dragon Pox in the first place.

"You look better than you did last night at least." Ethan grinned. "Even in your sleep you looked ill."

"That's because he is!" Draco snapped and Harry looked up to see Draco glaring at Ethan who looked affronted.

"Draco, its fine. The Healer says I should be fine." Harry reached up to touch Draco's arm softly, the blonde pulled his arm sharply from Harry's grasp.

"You don't get it! This is a serious disease and you're acting like it's not a big deal!" Without saying anything else Draco stormed from the room leaving Harry's eyes burning and his face downturned towards the sheets of his bed.

"Geez, what curled up his arse and died?" Ethan glared towards the door.

"Please, don't be angry at him." Daphne said biting her lip. "His Grandfather died from dragon pox a few years ago. When he heard what Harry got he was so scared he had an accidental magic burst and destroyed most of the boys' dormitory."

"He did?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, Professor Snape went Morgan Le Fay on his arse." Blaise chuckled. "He was all 'just because someone you care about is hurt does not mean you can destroy school property' then he gave him a week of detention. It would have been a month but Snape has a soft spot for you."

"No he doesn't!" Harry cried. "He hates me!"

"Please, if Snape hated you, you'd know it." Ethan scoffed. "I on the other hand know the full brunt of his hatred."

"Well..." Pansy said loftily. "You are a Gryffindor."


	14. The Boy Who Followed

Chapter Fourteen – The-Boy-Who-Followed

Harry was back on his feet, after relapsing twice and technically dying once (the Healer had brought him back after only a minute of resuscitation, it wasn't that big of a deal unlike what Draco, Ethan and his Father kept telling him). He had missed four weeks of school but after two weeks he managed to do a lot of his work in the Hospital but not at Potions, something he had missed terribly, he could read the books and do the theory but he couldn't actually make the potions in St Mungos.

Snape nodded at him in greeting but otherwise did not acknowledge his presence. Harry couldn't help the grin as he gathered his ingredients; he had really missed making Potions. Draco almost laughed out loud at the look on Harry's face, like a child at Christmas.

Harry couldn't help but notice as Snape walked passed he was limping slightly; he frowned and tilted his head to have a better look. Just under his knee on his right leg was a smudge of liquid which Harry realised was blood. Snape's legs moved from his view and he realised his potion was boiling over and he quickly adjusted the heat, making sure to keep his attention on the potion until it was done.

"Potter stay behind." Snape called at the end of the lesson and both Harry and Ethan looked up. He sighed. "The less idiotic Potter."

Harry assumed this meant him, so he waited behind as everyone else filtered out of the classroom. Once they had gone he walked up to Snape's desk. Snape was sitting down, the only time in the whole of the hour and a look of relief was on his face.

"I assume Potter, that your absence hasn't affected your work. However, you have missed out on a few crucial potions which you need to make in order to pass this year so I am offering one night a week of my tuition to allow you to make up the lost time before your end-of-year-exams in two months." Harry's eyes widened and he nodded mutely. "Very well, are Wednesday nights sufficient?"

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir." Harry said nodding enthusiastically. Snape nodded once more as a dismissal but Harry didn't leave.

"What is it Potter?"

"Well Professor, I was wondering if you should get your leg looked at by Madam Pomfrey, you seemed to be hurt." Harry bit his lip, wondering if he had overstepped his bounds but Snape simply sighed.

"I know many potions which heal the sort of affliction I have Mr Potter, as a matter of fact the one I plan to use is brewing as we speak. I will be in top health by this time tomorrow." Harry nodded and turned to leave. "…Thank you for your concern however misguided it was."

Harry couldn't help the grin which spread over his face at the acknowledgement. He ran almost all the way to the Slytherin Common Rooms where Pansy, Daphne and Millicent were splayed across a sofa (gracefully, they would say). He was out of breath unused to the exercise after four weeks without any strenuous movements.

"Don't let Draco see you if you want to escape another lecture." Daphne stated after taking in the state he was in.

"I'm fine." Harry panted as he collapsed beside her on the adjacent armchair. "Draco's just too overprotective, like Ethan."

"They both care." Pansy drawled. "As do we all. We are invested in your future, and by that I mean making sure you live to see it."

Harry laughed and lay his head back against the armchair.

"What's got him so tired?" He heard the drawl and looked up to see the boys of the Slytherin first years enter the Common room, the food in their hands indicating their trip to the kitchens, something they had found after their first week with the Marauders' Map.

"Just us dear, we are so very tiring after all." Daphne laughed and Harry sent her a grateful smile, sometimes Draco just got slightly overbearing with his concern. Draco gave him an unbelieving look but did not mention the lie.

They all jumped as a loud knocking ran through the Common Room, no one ever knocked, anyone who ever entered knew the password. A Slytherin Prefect opened the portrait hole to reveal Ethan with Hermione and Ron behind him, all looked extremely excited.

"Hey, can I speak to Harry please?" Ethan asked grinning at the Prefect who raised an eyebrow and turned questioningly to Harry who nodded and stood walking out of the Common Room.

"What's going on?" He asked but Ethan just grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alcove followed by Ron and Hermione.

"We found something really cool!" Ethan exclaimed.

"We were talking to Hagrid and he practically told us why the third floor has been off limits this whole year and why your Dad wouldn't tell us why!" Ron cried. "He's keeping a giant three headed dog there!"

"What? Why?" Harry asked frowning looking to Hermione for the answers since it was guaranteed the other two Gryffindors were too excited to see past the what.

"He's keeping a dog there, I believe it to be to protect something but he wouldn't tell us what." Hermione said with an expression that told of disapproval of what the two boys were planning on doing.

"You're going to go to see it." He stated and Ethan nodded.

"Come on Harry." He whined. "How often do you get to see three-headed dogs?"

"Never, but I'm not that keen to be honest." He could remember very clearly Aunt Marge's dog Ripper who had chased him up a tree biting at his ankles as he went, ever since he had been very cautious around any sort of canines.

"Oh come on Harry! You're the best at spells of all of us and Hagrid told us that all you have to do is play music and it falls asleep and you already know the spell which plays music box music! Please!" It was true, Harry had learnt the spell to show Pansy for her birthday and he had then transferred it into a wooden box he had bought her with the carving of a pansy on it. She had really liked it.

"I think this is stupid." Hermione stated to get her opinion known but Harry also knew that if Ethan and Ron were going to go she wasn't about to be left behind.

"Please!" Both Ethan and Ron chorused. He looked between their faces for a moment torn, but he couldn't say no to his twin, not after everything that had happened.

"Okay." He sighed and Ethan wasted no time in dragging him up to the third floor corridor, using the Marauders' Map (it had been his this week) to avoid Filch and Mrs Norris.

They stood in front of the barred door and Hermione unlocked it with a flick of her wand and a whispered spell. Ethan then quietly pushed the door open. Harry was surprised at how silent the room was, surely a three headed dog would make a lot of noise. It was then they realised why; there was a harp playing music in the corner of the room. Not risking any noise in case it woke the beast Ethan and Ron gestured for them to go closer.

It was Hermione who noticed the trap door which the dog's paw rested on. Pushing between them Ron and Ethan managed to get it off and open it.

"I wonder what's down there." Ron whispered and Harry frowned leaning closer into the dark drop. They stared down in for a few seconds before something occurred to Harry.

It was silent.

There was no music.

A growl broke the silence and they spun around to see the dog had awoken and it was moving towards them. Without even thinking Hermione dragged them all down into the floor, the trap door slamming shut behind them. Harry screamed as they free fell for a few seconds before landing heavily on a soft surface.

"Bloody Hell." Ron muttered. "Bloody lucky that this plant thing was here."  
>Harry looked down beneath his arms and gasped.<p>

"Devil's Snare." Hermione hissed at the same time his mind made the conclusion.

"Stay still." He yelled to Ethan who had begun to get entangled within the vines. Ethan's eyes were wide in panic. "It constricts the more you struggle. Relax!"

"Relax! Relax! With a bloody big vine wrapped around my middle and you tell me to relax." Ron was panicking.

"Please Ron calm down." Hermione was completely relaxed Harry saw. In instants she had sunk beneath the roots to the screams of the other two Gryffindors. Harry took a deep calming breath and closed his eyes imagining that he was in bed. For a moment he felt like he was suffocating before he hit a cold stone floor and looked up to see Ethan and Ron both fighting like their lives depended on it.

"They won't relax now, it's too tightly wound around them." Harry was beginning to panic himself. Hermione had closed her eyes and was mumbling under her breath.

"Lumos Maximus!" She screamed pointing her wand at the plant which gave an inhuman shriek and shrivelled letting Ethan and Ron drop between the gaps. They hit the floor hard.

"Well…that was horrifying." Ethan said rubbing his arms to get the feeling back into them.

"This was an idiotic idea, there's no way to get back up through that trap door and even if we do that dog's awake now so at least one of us will get eaten." Hermione was getting hysterical; Harry bit his lip and looked down the dimly lit corridor.

"I guess the only way is forward." He said gently nudging Hermione's arm to bring her back to her normal calm self, she took a deep breath and nodded but glared angrily at the other boys. With a glance at everyone Ethan pushed forward through the corridor.

* * *

><p>The corridor was silent except for their footsteps, so the noise came they heard it almost immediately. It was a fluttering sound that intensified the closer they got to the door at the end of the corridor. Hermione was the one who opened it, only hesitating for a moment.<p>

Harry caught the gasp in his throat; in the room were thousands of winged keys all of different shapes and sizes and colours. A few fluttered around his head for a second before flitting away, in the corner of the room there was an old knobbly broomstick which had seen better times.

"Whoa." Ron breathed their thoughts aloud. Ethan tried the door on the opposite side of the room.

"It's locked." He frowned looking up at the keys. "There's no way we'll be able to find the key out of all of them!"

Harry looked back through the door they had entered through, the corridor was dark but he could see the end of it, a dead end, and there was no way for them to get back up through the Devil's Snare, her turned back in time to see Hermione point towards a certain key.

"It has a broken wing!" She cried. "It must have been used before."

"Yeah, that's great and all Hermione but how do we reach it?" Ron complained. "That broomstick won't get more than five feet off the ground."

Ethan grabbed at it and swung his leg over, the broomstick rose into the air, but as soon as it did the gentle fluttering of the keys became a furious buzzing and they began attacking Ethan's face and arms. He cried out and covered his eyes before a determined look lit up his face and he sped after the broken key. It was being covered by many different keys but was still visible.

"Hurry Ethan!" Hermione yelled and Harry almost laughed as he saw Ethan roll his eyes. He leant closer to the broomstick and moved faster. He reached his arm out and cried in pain as a few keys got lodged there. He shook his hand for a second before throwing himself forward over the broomstick his hand grasping air for the key.

"Ethan!" Harry shrieked running forward to his brother's prone body. Ethan had many cuts and bruises but he was grinning when they reached him.

"Maybe I should have tried out for seeker." He claimed as he showed them his tightly clenched fist. Within which was the broken key, now with both wings broken and still struggling wildly in Ethan's grip.

"Let's get out of here." Hermione sighed. Ethan climbed to his feet with the help of Harry and Ron. They stumbled to the door and it opened with no problems.

The next room was decorated in blacks and whites, but their eyes were instantly drawn to the large chess board in the middle of the room.

"Whose idea of fun is this?" Ron exclaimed. Harry looked closer and saw on the black side of the board there were four pieces missing. Harry walked over the chess board cautiously but when he tried to get through the white pieces the pawns all drew their swords and barred his way. "We have to play!"

"Don't be insane!" Ethan yelled. "They'll slaughter us if we get in their way."

Harry had been horrified when he had first been introduced to Wizard's Chess. It was a brutal game that he had never got the hang of; when a piece was in the way of another it was destroyed. Ron and Ethan had a passion for it that Harry didn't understand.

"No they won't, I can play it without us four getting used." Ron declared excitedly. "And I'll definitely win. I haven't lost since I was seven and that was against Fred."

"There doesn't seem to be another way." Hermione still looked annoyed at the two boys who had dragged her along. She was glaring at the both of them as Ron positioned them on the board. Hermione, a castle, Ethan a bishop, and Harry and Ron as knights. They all jumped as the sound of stone grating across stone signalled the beginning of the match.

It was a long tense match, and every time one of the pieces was destroyed Harry flinched protecting his eyes from the debris that flew across the board, a few times they let out quiet cries as chunks of stone hit them causing bruises and cuts they knew they'd have to go see Madam Pomfrey about if they ever got out alive that was.

The number of pieces left was dwindling, on both sides. Ethan and Ron were conferring over their next moves every so often and Harry spun on his horse as he heard Ethan yell 'no'.

"You're not doing that!" He yelled and Ron rolled his eyes.

"It's either me or Harry and I'm not going to let Harry get hurt." Ron declared loudly. Harry quickly scanned over the board, he had never truly grasped the game but even he could see what path Ron had set out. If either he or Harry himself made a certain move they would be directly in the line of the Queen who would move out of the way of the King to kill the knight. Ethan was then in line with the King. "Knight to E4."

"Ron no!" Ethan shrieked but it was too late, his knight was on its way. Within seconds the Queen had drawn her weapon and stuck it through the horse Ron was seated upon; it grazed the red head's side and Ron let out a gasp as it knocked the breath from him; he fell from the horse and hit the floor hard. The three remaining children froze unable to believe what had just happened.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed making a move to step away.

"Don't move!" Ethan yelled before running towards the King. "Checkmate."

The King's sword fell with a loud clatter and the doors over the other side of the chess board swung open; Hermione didn't waste a second falling to her knees beside Ron quickly casting any and all spells she knew which could possibly help.

"You two go ahead." She said in between. "I'll stay here with him."

"Hermione…"

"Find a way out of here, come back for us." She commanded. "Just come back for us."

Harry looked to Ethan whose face was grey and drawn painfully at the sight of his best friend bleeding out onto the floor. Ethan then took his hand and dragged him through the doors; they ran along the corridor as fast as possible. They both skidded to a halt as a horrible smell came to their nostrils; in a chamber was a troll; much like the one who Harry had knocked out. It was lying unconscious on the floor.

"Let's hurry before it wakes up." Harry whispered and Ethan nodded swallowing before hurrying through the chamber; they came to the smallest chamber they had been in yet. Against one wall was a line of fire in the middle of the room was a small table upon which were seven potions.

"Look at this, we have to read this." Ethan held up a piece of paper; there was nothing but some riddle which Harry took three times longer to read than his larger twin.

"What does it mean?"

"Well, it means we have to drink one of these potions to get through." Ethan was frowning down at the table. "What do you bet Snape thought up this one?"

"Which one do you think it is?" Harry asked studying the potions carefully; he didn't recognise any of them.

"This one." Ethan grabbed the smallest black potion and downed half of it. Harry tried to stop him slightly too late. Ethan grinned as nothing happened. "Here, I'll go through first."

Harry took the potion and drank down the rest. Meanwhile Ethan walked over to the flames. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and threw one hand through the flames; a sigh of relief was echoed by Harry as nothing burnt. They both pushed the door open between them and entered a large hall. It was empty aside from a large mirror in the centre.

"I can't see any doors." Harry whispered and Ethan nodded. A movement caught their eyes and Harry's mouth dropped open as he saw Professor Quirrell. The teacher had a blank look on his face as he stared at the twins.

"The Potter twins; how fortuitous." In all of the time Harry had been taught by Professor Quirrell he had never heard the Professor speak without his stutter. He sounded a harsh man.

"Professor?" Ethan asked taking a step forward. "Thank Merlin! We stumbled down here and we need help! Ron's hurt really bad."

"Ha." The turbaned man spat. "Please, you've been sent here by Dumbledore, that bumbling fool has suspected me for weeks! Ever since the troll, but then poor little weak Harry Potter defeated it didn't he…you won't defeat us!"

"Us Professor?" Ethan asked his eyes wide at the outburst.

Quirrell smirked and he lifted his hands and began to unwind his turban. Harry felt Ethan grab his hand tighter as Quirrell spun around. Harry felt bile rise in his throat for a long moment. There on the back of his head was another face; a horrible imitation of a face.

"Ethan Potter." It hissed. "We meet again."

"Voldemort." Ethan's head seemed to rise and a glint of determination entered his eyes. "What have you done to Professor Quirrell?"

"I have done nothing he wasn't willing to do." The starch-white face stretched further into a smirk. "Quirrell has been my loyal servant from the beginning; he volunteered for the honour to allow me to feed off of him, he even killed the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest to keep me alive cursing himself in the process. Now back to what _is_ important, the death of the 'Boy-who-lived'."

Ethan gritted his jaw and glared at the back of Quirrell's head.

"If I die I'm taking you with me you slimy bastard." Harry had never heard Ethan sound so vicious before; it seemed Ethan knew exactly what was going on and knew exactly how to deal with it. Harry on the other hand was terrified beyond all reason, he had never heard the name Voldemort and suddenly this, this thing was trying to kill his brother. The fear melted away and he took a step forward half covering Ethan; nothing would ever hurt his brother; he had only just got him he wasn't going to let him go now.

"I won't let you kill Ethan." He hissed feeling anger swelling up in his veins. It was a familiar feeling, as if something like this had happened before. A hissing laugh followed his words.

"I'll kill you first little boy." Voldemort laughed.

Ethan reacted faster than Harry had ever seen; drawing his wand and casting a muttered spell that flashed red through the air. Voldemort laughed as Quirrell spun around and deflected the spell; it hit the ground with a crash and left a large gouge in the floor.

"Crucio!" The man hissed and Ethan fell to the floor screaming.

"Ethan!" Harry fell to his knees holding onto Ethan's convulsing shoulders. Eventually it stopped but now Ethan was unconscious.

"Come to me Harry or I will kill you both this instant." Quirrell was facing him but with his back to the mirror Harry could still see Voldemort. Without hesitation Harry took a step forward Quirrell smirked terribly and grasped Harry's shoulder spinning Harry to be between the mirror and him. The way he licked his lips made a shiver shudder down his spin in cold terror. "Find it."

"W-What?" Harry whispered, crying as Quirrell's hand dug painfully into his shoulder.

"The stone get it!" Harry froze staring at the mirror. His reflection wasn't what it should have been. Instead Quirrell had disappeared and Harry was older; looking more like James than ever. Ethan was with him, they both looked identical aside for their height; Harry would always be short; he knew this. Draco was there, older too, and had an arm wrapped around Harry's waist, his eyes were staring straight out at Harry with an expression he had never seen before; but he looked so happy. Draco smirked and winked at the real Harry before holding his hand up; in it was a red stone. His smirk widening Draco slipping it into Harry's pocket. Harry gasped as he felt something real appear in his pocket a weight he knew belonged to the stone.

"Well?" Quirrell hissed. "Where is it boy? I know Dumbledore would have told you how to get it! Why else would you and your brother be here if not sent here to 'kill' me?"

"I-I don't know what you're on about." Harry stuttered trying to pull away but a hissing laugh filled the chamber.

"Of course you don't." This time it wasn't Quirrell who spoke. "Then what's that in your pocket?"

Harry tore from the man's grasp and stumbled falling to the floor beside Ethan.

"Give me the stone!" Two voices echoed out. Quirrell raised his wand and pointed it to Ethan. "Or he'll die."

"No!" Harry screamed; he didn't know how but he knew that Voldemort couldn't get this stone, not even if it meant his and Ethan's life. Ethan would agree he knew.

"Fine I'll take it from your corpse… Avada Kedavra!"

"NO!" Harry screamed throwing himself in front of the green curse. All went silent.


	15. The Boy Who Woke

Chapter Fifteen –The-Boy-Who-Woke

It was dark, and cold. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know what was happening, he was _so_ cold.

Voices all around him, shouting, whispering… hissing. Warmth, patches of warmth, holding him, taking him from the cold. The dark remained. It was silent once more.

Wake up.

Harry's eyes opened slowly, it felt like he had been beaten up by the troll again but much, much worse. He hurt all over and his eyes stung even in the dim light of what he thought must be the Hospital Wing. He was alone there.

Looking around he realised he was encased in a screen of bed curtains.  
>"…'frey" He tried to call for the Matron but his voice croaked and fell into a whimper of pain, he tried to clear his throat and called again with more success. "Madam Pomfrey?"<p>

Within seconds he heard her hurried footsteps.

"Mr Potter." She sighed when she saw him. "I thought you had given us enough scares for one year."

"Sorry Ma'am." He whispered, to speak any louder hurt his throat. "What happened?"  
>"You took on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, that's what happened!" Pomfrey yelled and Harry flinched at the noise she quieted but the anger on her face did not abate. "Honestly, if it wasn't enough that Mr Weasley was in here for a week with that gash made by that awful chess set and then your brother and you got brought to me. Both of you near enough dead."<p>

"Professor Quirrell cast the killing curse and Ethan." Harry remembered.

"Yes, and if it weren't for some Merlin-forsaken miracle he would be dead right now."

"But it thought no one could escape it?"

"Your Father will be here in the morning, he will tell you everything." The Matron declared looking over him with a critical eye. "For now you need more sleep and I will wake you when he comes in is that okay?"

Harry frowned but nodded, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open anyway.

* * *

><p>"Harry dear, your Father's here. So are Remus and Sirius." Harry was being shaken very gently and he opened his eyes blinking a few times to clear the sleep from them. He looked around but was still surrounded by bed curtains. Seeing his glance Madam Pomfrey stripped back the curtains allowing him to see his Father who had dark circles around his eyes and was so pale he seemed almost grey.<p>

Remus and Sirius didn't look much better but they both grinned at seeing him. James did not.

"Hey Cub, how d'you feel?" Sirius sat on the end of the bed.

"Better than yesterday…what happened?" Harry wanted to know how he and Ethan had survived. "Did Voldemort get the stone?"

"No he did not." James said curtly before glaring down at Harry. "That corridor was off limits for a reason Harry! It was stupid and irresponsible, you could have died! Ethan almost died! Not to mention that Ron was hurt too!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Harry cried tears filling his eyes. "We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."

"No?" James shouted. "Well they did!"

"I'm so-so-sorry…" Harry collapsed into sobs. Sirius glared at James and hugged Harry to his chest, James' expression softened.

"I'm sorry Harry." James whispered. "I've just been so worried about you. Madam Pomfrey wasn't even sure if you would make it at the beginning your magical core was so depleted."

"We didn't know it would be so bad…" Harry cried and James nodded.

"I know, I know." James ran his hand through Harry's hair making it messier than it already was.

"Is…" Harry was almost afraid to ask. "Is Ethan okay?"

"He's fine. The brunt of the curse hit you." Remus said before a small frown crossed his face. "We looked at Ethan's memory, it's fuzzy since he was almost unconscious but he saw you jump in front of the killing curse. We don't know how but it's almost like you made it rebound. Do you know what you did?"

"I…I wanted to protect Ethan. Voldemort said that he'd kill him so I would give him the stone." Harry cried remembering it, he had been so terrified. Sirius hugged him closer and James squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Harry, we'll figure out what happened." James said softly. Harry leant his head against his godfather's shoulder.

"Did I miss Wednesday?" He whispered and James frowned but nodded.

"You've been unconscious for two weeks Harry."

"Oh…"

"Why?" Sirius asked. "What's so important about Wednesday?"

"I was meant to have lessons with Professor Snape to catch up on the potions I missed." Harry's face fell. "Now I've missed even more lessons."

"Don't worry about that Harry." Remus said smiling. "You don't have to do the end of year exams since you've missed so much school, all of your teachers have agreed to pass you based on your merit throughout the year."

"Oh." Harry frowned. "But I wanted to learn the potions."

Sirius couldn't help the laugh that escaped his throat.

"You _really_ are a Slytherin!"

* * *

><p>Harry was extremely nervous; he had been released from the Hospital Wing half an hour ago and after being mollycoddled by his father and godfathers he had finally been allowed to leave. Madam Pomfrey had allowed visitors yesterday and everyone had come to see him except for Draco. He had been upset and everyone seemed to know it and had left soon afterwards. When he pushed open the portrait door to the Slytherin Common Room it seemed as though everyone suddenly fell silent.<p>

"Hey Harry!" Pansy called beckoning him over to their corner. Draco was there Harry couldn't help but notice.

"…Hello Draco." Harry murmured, Draco looked up at him sneered and looked away without saying a word. Blaise elbowed him hard but the damage had already been done.

"Did you walk all the way down here on your own?" Daphne asked a disapproving tone in her voice.

"Yeah, but I've had five mother hens around me for the last week I wanted some time to myself." And it wasn't a lie, after so many years of barely being spoken too it still sometimes got too much when everyone crowded him at once. Draco scoffed and Harry frowned looking over at him, Pansy quickly tried to distract him with a hilarious story including Blaise and a flock of doxies but Harry could barely listen to it. Draco was mad at him.

They went to bed early that night at the insistence of Pansy who practically pushed the boys out of the common room at eight. Harry couldn't remember that last time he voluntarily went to sleep that early.

"…Draco?" Harry whispered once they were alone. Blaise had called Vincent and Greg out to 'look at something in the bathroom'. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to get hurt."

"You idiot!" Draco yelled. "You think everything is about you don't you?"

Harry flinched back hurt.

"Draco…" He started but Draco was now on a rant.

"This isn't about you it's about me!" Draco cried. "You're so stupid for even thinking that you could go to that corridor and not get hurt! You'd only just recovered from dragon pox for crying out loud and then you suddenly decide, wait a second, that wasn't life threatening enough, I'll go fight the Dark Lord and then fall unconscious for the best part of two weeks!"

"Draco, I didn't mean-"

"Whatever Potter. I won't waste my worry on you, Merlin I don't even want to waste my breath on you! Just leave me alone!" With that Draco rolled over and Harry stared at the tense lines of his back for the best part of an hour. Blaise, Vincent and Greg came back in and Blaise gently persuaded Harry to get into his pyjamas and climb into bed but Harry still didn't take his eyes off of Draco. Eventually he fell asleep.

He woke with a sharp breath as something warm pressed against him. He felt warm breath in his ear.

"…I'm sorry." It was Draco. "I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay." Harry whispered rolling around to face the blonde. "I'm sorry too; we didn't think anything like that would happen."

"I know." Draco whispered back before laying down on Harry's pillow wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. "Go back to sleep."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Just a warning there will be a massive time skip in the next chapter and I have decided to make Snape and James get together! Even if you don't like that pairing just give it a read and try it out! Please! I've never written it before but it just seemed to fit in with my storyline well!<strong>_


	16. The Boy Who Grew Up

Chapter Sixteen – The-Boy-Who-Grew-Up

**Very much a time skipping chapter**

_*Summer of First Year*_

_ "I call Harry Potter to the stand." Harry felt his knees quiver in nervousness, what if when he told everyone what happened his family wouldn't want him anymore. He had to drink veritaserum that Professor Snape had made to make sure he didn't lie but he didn't want anyone to know what Uncle Vernon had done; it had been drilled in to him that he was not to tell anyone anything about what happened in the house._

_ "It's okay Harry, you'll be fine." James squeezed his hand and Harry looked up. James had requested a closed court; he only had to stand up in front of the jury and the court and Professor Snape who was there because he had supplied the veritaserum, but on the other side of the room were his Uncle and Aunt. They had to have a magical lawyer appointed to them as a muggle lawyer would not be able to stand for them and they had refused to voluntarily choose a lawyer. The woman everyone called his mother was sitting near enough to them but Harry had only met her once and he had tried to ignore any hint that he and Ethan would have to go home with her. Ethan wasn't here, James had insisted._

_ "Good morning Ma'am." Harry said to Madam Bones who gave him a reassuring smile, he had met her a few hours before when they had been waiting for the trial to start._

_ "Hello Harry, all you have to do is answer the questions we ask okay?" Harry nodded swallowing nervously._

_ "Harry can you confirm that the people sitting at the desk over there are your Aunt and Uncle?" A man with a large bushy beard asked and Harry nodded. "You need to say it son."_

_ "Y-Yes Sir." Harry stammered, the words coming out of his mouth almost forcefully._

_ "Your Father has brought this case forward because he has reason to believe that your Uncle and Aunt abused you. Is this true?" Madam Bones asked._

_ "I… I was punished when I was bad." Harry stated and the court gave a few glances between each other before Madam Bones cleared her throat._

_ "Harry, what punishments did they give you?"_

_ "I was sent to bed without any food…" That one was easy to say he had come to realise that it was sometimes a common punishment among children._

_ "How often did this occur?"_

_ "One time I was in my cupboard for three days without food." Harry's mouth answered without him thinking._

_ "Cupboard?" Another woman asked._

_ "That was where my bed was."_

_ "Objection, surely that is merely a colloquial term for how small Mr Potter's bedroom actually was." Vernon Dursley's lawyer stated standing._

_ "Harry, is what Mr Anderson asked correct?" Madam Bones asked._

_ "My cupboard was under the stairs. It was small but it wasn't a bedroom like Dudley had." Harry said._

_ "Okay, now Harry, your Father and your godfathers have all issued statements declaring that they believe you were physically and sexually abused is this true?"_

_ "I…um… when I was bad Aunt Petunia used to slap me and Uncle Vernon did other things." _

_ "Please go into detail about these 'other things'." Madam Bones said kindly._

_ "He punched me and kicked me sometimes, one time he made me put my hands under the hot water tap when it was very hot." Tears filled Harry's eyes, he didn't want to say this, he didn't want to be here. "When I was really bad he played the good boy game with me."_

_ "What is this game?" Harry didn't know who was asking the questions anymore but he wished they'd stop. _

_ "He's make me t-take my clothes off…" Harry had to stop to take a deep breath like Remus had told him to do if he got too scared about what to say, it helped some. "Then he would touch me, i-in my privates and…and make me touch him."_

_ "Do you know what the term rape means?" Someone asked, Harry nodded pressing his fists into his eyes. _

_ "…Y-Y-Yes."_

_ "Is that what your Uncle did to you?"_

_ "Yes." Harry nodded, his knees shaking, he wanted to sit down._

_ "Objection!" Vernon's lawyer called out once more and Harry almost fell down. "How do we know Mr Potter knows the true meaning of rape?"_

_ "Harry?"_

_ "…Remus explained it to me." Harry whispered. "I walked in on him and Sirius, they were umm… having sex… and later he told me about it, when I mentioned what Uncle Vernon used to do he told he it shouldn't have been done and that it was only something you should do with someone you love."_

_ The lawyer looked annoyed but nodded and sat back down. _

_ "That's enough for now." Madam Bones smiled at Harry and he hurriedly walked back to his Father who gathered him up in a hug and Harry spent the rest of the trial with his head on James' shoulder. _

_ They questioned Vernon and under veritaserum he said much the same. Petunia admitted to knowing nothing of the 'good boy game' but she had known about the physical abuse Harry had suffered through and the emotional and verbal abuse. In the end Vernon was sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban and Petunia to three in a muggle prison; Dudley was to go into child services. _

_ It was then time to bring forward Lily's case. They discussed for a long time about why Lily gave Harry up and how she felt about what her relatives had done. James, Remus and Sirius were all called forward as well as a few other people; including Mrs Weasley who said that even though Lily had given Harry away all children needed a mother figure. That had been argued down quickly. Eventually Madam Bones declared her judgement. Lily was allowed to see Harry and Ethan ten times instead of six but she made it clear that there would be no way Lily would get full custody of either of them. _

_ Professor Snape had spoken softly to his Father for a short while before nodding curtly giving Harry a nod too._

_ "Thank you for coming Professor." Harry had whispered softly._

_ "…I will see you when school begins." The professor had promptly stormed away, his robes billowing around him._

_ Harry had been taken home where Pippy, the Potter house elf had made them all a big dinner in celebration. Ethan had been grinning the whole time and James had hugged them both a lot._

* * *

><p><em> That summer Harry had spent a lot of time out in the Potter grounds, he loved being able to go outside and the Potters' gardens were amazing to just lie in. That was when he had realised he could do it, talk to snakes that is. A small adder had slithered up to him and Harry had jumped as it greeted him. <em>

_ "Hello." He whispered back._

_ "Ah, how fortunate, a perssson who can ssspeak our tongue." It had hissed back before promptly curling around his arm. "Ah, you are alssso warm. That isss a good combination."_

_ "How can I understand you?" Harry asked stroking the skin's black and grey skin awed at its smoothness; he had always imagined snakes to be slimy. _

_ "You are one of the sssacred onesss. There are few left today." The adder hissed._

_ "Oh. I'm Harry. What is your name?" He had asked and the snake hissed in laughter._

_ "I do not have a name which you sssshall be able to remember Little One." It hissed. "You may think of one for you to call me."_

_ "Are you male or female?" Harry asked cautiously afraid of upsetting the snake._

_ "I am male."_

_ "Okay, how about Nox?" Harry asked and the snake tilted its head. "You have black markings, they're really pretty."_

_ "That isss acssseptable." Nox hissed before promptly shutting his eyes and drifting in the afternoon sun. Later that day Harry was woken by a shriek. Ethan was standing above him with wide eyes. _

_ "Ethan! What is it?" Harry asked shooting upwards; Nox hissed and tightened around Harry's arm._

_ "There's a snake around your arm!" His voice seemed to be getting higher and louder._

_ "I know, his name's Nox." Harry smiled stroking the snake's head with a finger. "He's really nice._

_ "Thanksss." Nox hissed. "You are nicsse too."_

_ "Thank you." Ethan's eyes widened further and he seemed to choke on the air he was breathing._

_ "You can talk to snakes?"_

_ "Well, I only found out today." Harry frowned. "Is that not good?"_

_ "Harry I can only think of two parselmouths in all of history." Ethan said his mouth. "Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort!"_

_ "Oh…" Harry had mumbled. "Should we tell Dad?"_

_ "I think so." So they had gone inside and told James what was going on. James had reacted in much the same way Ethan had, and hadn't believed Harry until he had proven it. Nox was then allowed to stay in the house providing he wouldn't bite anyone. Nox had chuckled answering that he wouldn't like the taste of humans anyway._

_ Their second year had been much more uneventful than their first. Harry had actually had a taste of a normal school life. Third year had been much the same. It was fourth year when everything changed again…_


	17. The Boy Who Had Standards

Chapter Seventeen – The-Boy-Who-Had-Standards

"Harry! Harry-dear over here!" Daphne was waving ferociously at him and he waved back hurrying over, Pansy was with her, their parents had already left as per usual.

"Daphne, Pansy! How were your summers?" He laughed as he was pulled into a tight hug.

"Merlin Harry, you're still so skinny!" Daphne reprimanded him.

"We feed him as much as we can! He just won't grow!" Ethan laughed throwing his arm around Harry's shoulder, he was close enough that Harry noticed the blush which graced his face as he looked at the petite blonde girl. "How're you Daphne?"

"I'm fine thank you Ethan." She smiled at him before turning to Harry and leaping into a detailed description of her holiday home in south France which accounted for her warm tan. Ethan pouted and quickly ran away spotting Hermione over the other side of the train station. Pansy laughed at Daphne who frowned. "What?"

"Nothing." Pansy laughed shaking her head. Harry couldn't help his answering grin; he knew about Ethan's crush on the pretty blonde girl and Daphne was completely oblivious to the infatuation. "Oh look there's Blaise, Theo and Draco!"

Harry froze as he turned around. The boys were heading towards them but Harry's mouth dropped open as he saw the blonde. Draco had grown a lot over the summer; he must have been a foot taller than Harry now and he had filled out too, his hair was longer and no longer held back by gel. They hadn't all been able to meet over the summer as Draco, Theo and Daphne had both gone to their respective French manors; Blaise was 'bonding' with his new step Father and Pansy had gone to America to meet a new cousin her Aunt had given birth to. Something fluttered in Harry's chest and he swallowed away a dry throat.

"Hey guys!" Blaise and Theo hugged Harry and the girls; Theo was just as thin and tall as ever and Blaise had also grown and was looking much more the pureblood that he was but Harry's chest didn't tighten the same way it did when Draco pulled Harry to him.

"Merlin I've missed all of you!" Draco laughed; his voice had deepened also.

"We've miss you too Draco." Pansy laughed. "Now, let's get a compartment before there are none left."

The Slytherins climbed onto the train and found a compartment quickly. Harry curled up next to the window with Daphne leaning against him, Draco and Pansy lay sprawled gracefully across from them. Blaise and Theo sat on the floor with their long legs bent under them. A few minutes later they were found by Greg, Vince and Millicent; Millicent sat beside Daphne while Greg and Vince sat on the floor on either side of Blaise. They spent most of the ride talking about their holidays.

"Did any of you here about what's meant to be happening this year?" Draco asked his eyes glowing with a secret. Harry pouted.

"My Dad wouldn't tell me, Sirius kept taunting me and Ethan all summer about it!"

"Ethan and I." Pansy corrected and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine: taunting Ethan and _I_ all summer about it." He said pointedly.

"Oh well, my Father told me." Draco smirked. "The tri-wizard tournament is taking place this year at Hogwarts."

A serious of gasps echoed around the compartment.

"Tournament?" Harry asked. "What's that?"

The Slytherin turned disbelieving eyes onto him.

"How do you not know of it?" Blaise asked. "It's one of the most famous competitions of all time! Three Wizarding schools; normally Hogwarts; Beauxbatons and Dumstrang as they're the most famous Wizarding schools in Europe anyway, each has a champion who is required to do different three death-defying tasks. The winner gets glory for their school and a thousand galleons! It was disbanded after the death toll of the champions got too high."

"Why are we doing it then?" Harry asked. "It sounds dangerous."

"It is!" Theo said leaning forward excitedly. "But it's meant to be amazing at the same time! A good champion wins eternal glory!"

Silence fell as they thought through what was going to happen this year in school. A hissing around his neck made Pansy stiffen. For a Slytherin she did not do well around snakes, when she had first seen Nox she had tried to hit him with a book and had almost succeeded had Harry not thrown his hand in the way. Nox made sure to scare her every time he could now, that included hiding under the covers of her bed or in the pockets of her robes.

"_How long isss it until we reach this 'sssschool'?" _He hissed.

_ "Another hour maybe."_ Harry hissed back.

"I still find it strange when you do that." Blaise said shivering over exaggeratedly. "Goes right through me!"

"Don't listen to him, I think it's amazing!" Draco declared his eyes staring at Harry with an intensity that made Harry shiver himself; Daphne gave him an odd look before grinning over at Draco and cuddling up to Harry even more.

"Really? Because I think it's sexy." She purred kissing Harry's cheek. Harry blushed bright red and pushed Daphne away embarrassed. The blonde laughed and patted Harry's arm rolling her eyes. "Sorry love, I like my men a little taller."

Harry pouted and turned away in mock-upset.

"Fine then! It's over!" He cried. All of the Slytherins laughed except for Draco who was frowning at Daphne, she stuck her tongue out at him and he turned to face the window his face flushing red.

* * *

><p>The sorting went as usual. With Ethan and Ron making faces at Blaise and Pansy who returned them in kind. A few more Slytherins were added and they were welcomed with a cool appraising gaze; summing up how they would be as additions to the house. Finally the part everyone had waited for occurred. Dumbledore stood and silence fell.<p>

"As I'm sure all of you are by now aware we have a special event taking place this year in school. The Tri-Wizard Tournament." A loud chorus of voices cried out in disbelief; the most prominent of which belonged to the Weasley twins both of whom exclaimed 'bloody hell' at the top of their lungs. Dumbledore chuckled "Yes indeed. Beauxbatons and Dumstrang will be arriving next week and the champions will be chosen then; some rules have been put in place to ensure the safety of all students. The most prominent of which is that only students who are seventeen or above are allowed to enter."

Another chorus rose, this time filled with groans of disappointment. Harry was relieved; he had not wanted to enter at all and now he had an excuse not to, he was quite happy not to have to risk his life; he had enough of that after first year.

"Enjoy!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and food appeared on the table. They all dug in. No matter how good the food was at Potter Manor it had nothing on the work of the Hogwarts' house elves. Once they were all full and happy they made their way down to the Slytherin Common room and curled up next to the fire like they had never left.

"Damn Dumbledore and his rules, why aren't we allowed to enter?" Blaise bemoaned for what must have been the fifth time that evening.

"I'm glad; the seventh years have the best chance of getting anywhere since they know the most spells." Harry said and six sets of accusing eyes fell on him, he shrank back into his seat. "That's what I think anyway. There's nothing we can do about it anyway."

"I guess you're right." Pansy sighed. "Eternal glory sound pretty good though."

"I could have got laid so many times with that…" Blaise sighed wistfully crying out in pain as he was struck by three simultaneous stinging hexes. "What was that for?"

"You're insulting our delicate feminine sensibilities." Daphne sniffed. "Even if you must sleep around do it without broadcasting it; like Harry."

"What?" Both Harry and Draco exclaimed.

"Since when does Harry sleep around?" Draco asked angrily.

"Yeah Daphne, since when?" Harry asked giving her an incredulous look.

"I'm not saying you do dear, just that I have no idea about any of your sexual experiences unlike with Blaise and Draco who go on about the blowjobs they've had for weeks. You're much more pleasant company." Harry laughed rolling his eyes at the petite blonde who had left Blaise and Draco gaping at her.

"Speaking of which Harry, want to come up to bed?" Pansy leant over smirking at him and Harry blushed.

"Thanks but no thanks Pans." He laughed.

"Got that right." Theo declared wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Our Harry has standards."

"Can we please stop talking about my sexual prowess?" Harry glared around at his friends.

"Oh come on Harry, give us some details of your summer romances!" Blaise whined. "You never tell us anything."

"Blaise!" Draco snapped and Harry just shrugged.

"That's because there's nothing to tell. I've never had any." Even Draco seemed shocked at this news.

"What? But…but you're you!" Draco spluttered and Harry's face flushed even redder.

"Yeah, well I want to wait for someone I love!" Harry defended himself angrily, when he was younger and Remus had said it was something to do only with someone you loved he believed him and he still did now.

"Aww, that's _so_ romantic." Pansy cooed hugging Harry to her before mock-glaring at the other boys. "Why can't you be so romantic?"

"We're teenagers!" Blaise protested. "It's a time for sexual experiences."

"I agree with Harry." Daphne declared. "I'm not saying to wait until marriage or even that you'll only ever do it with one person but for me it has to mean something."

Blaise rolled his eyes and reclined back on the sofa.

"Let's agree to disagree and move on! Now Pansy, what are we going to do about your hair?"


	18. The Boy Who Met Viktor Krum

Chapter Eighteen – The-Boy-Who-Met-Victor-Krum

_A/N – Quick note of thanks to Jackanapes (it was a typo since I switched that chapter around a few times to fit it in) Thanks for pointing out the mistake! _

"_**POTTER TRAITOR ESCAPES AZKABAN ALONG WITH THREE OTHER DEATH EATERS; **_

_see page 3 for more details."_

Harry stared down at the paper with a frown. His father and godfathers had been called to the ministry all of last night and had yet to return; now he knew why. Half of Hogwarts were staring at him; the other half was staring at Ethan, he looked up and his eyes met Ethan's wide ones. Harry had over the years found out the truth of what had happened that night and it frightened him to his very core to think that anyone could even think to betray their friends like that. Draco placed a warm hand on his arm and Harry jumped.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly and Harry nodded staring down at the picture of the rat-like man with overgrown front teeth and knotted dirty blonde hair. The man stared back at him with deadened eyes.

"I never knew the man." He whispered and Draco frowned giving Blaise and Theo a concerned look. The girls were busy prettying themselves up as the other schools were arriving that night and Crabbe and Goyle were eating, enough said. Nox coiled tighter around his upper arm where he tended to stay during the day.

"Yes, but if it weren't for him you would have never…" Blaise trailed off. "You know…"

Harry had told his friends everything about his life with his Aunt and Uncle last summer and why he had been sent there. They had all been horrified and Draco and Pansy had destroyed her parlour room between them. Harry had been in tears by the end and he had ended up in a giant Slytherin hug.

_**BAAAMM!**_

Everyone froze and turned towards the doors which had flown inwards causing the crash. Standing in the doorway was single-handedly the strangest looking man Harry had ever seen. He had wild white hair his face looked as though it was carved from wood. It was covered in scars and a large chunk of his nose was missing, one of his legs was missing and replaced with a wooden one; causing a loud clocking sound every time it hit the ground. His most shocking feature however were his eyes, one was human the other clearly wasn't his original eye, a vivid electric blue which moved independently from the other.

"Children may I have your attention please." Dumbledore called and Harry looked up at the headmaster. "As I'm sure are all aware Professor Varden passed away this summer, this is his replacement Professor Alastor Moody. Due to the paper this morning I am sure you have heard of what occurred last night; several death eaters escaped from Azkaban. You have no need to worry as dementors from Azkaban have been released to capture these criminals and ensure that they are given the kiss as soon as caught. The dementors have express instructions not to near any students; it is recommended however that you all carry with you a few bars of chocolate in case of any draining effects."

Moody clunked his way to the teachers table and Ethan gave Harry a look and motioned to the door. Harry followed him out after explaining to Draco that he needed to be alone with his brother right now, he was extremely aware of all of the eyes following him. The twins walked in silence to their Father's rooms and opened it with the password. Harry curled up on the sofa and Ethan wrapped around him.

"Why did he have to escape?" Harry whispered glad that it was Saturday and they didn't have any lessons to worry about.

"I hate it just as much as you." The larger twin mumbled. "I hate dementors too; I only ever saw some once but they make you so cold and they bring back all the bad memories I had."

"Like what?"

"The worst ones were normally Mum and Dad fighting; they did a lot when I was little and I didn't really understand it then like I do now." Ethan leant his dark head against Harry's. They were disturbed an hour later when their father came barging into the room in a temper; he froze as he saw his sons and calmed down almost instantly.

"I guess you two already heard then?" They nodded and James sighed dropping down in a chair running his hands through his hair tiredly. "I can't believe that rat escaped. Someone else must have helped him Peter could never think up any sort of plan on his own."

"Maybe it was Voldemort." Ethan said almost absent-mindedly they both looked to him. "He wasn't completely destroyed when we were babies what makes everyone think that he was destroyed in first year?"

It was obviously something that Ethan had been thinking about for a while if the deep frown on his face was anything to go by.

"I have to admit I've had the same idea a few times. But I didn't want to even think about something like that being true." James looked over at his sons and smiled weakly. "Try not to worry about it and enjoy this year what with the tournament and everything."

"What about the dementors?" Harry asked; he hated the idea of these creatures; to make his worst memories come back he wanted nothing more than to bury them and never even remember that they were there.

"…There is a spell." James said pursing his lips. "Remus taught it to Sirius and me when we were working with the Aurors. It repels the dementors; I'll get him to teach it to you and your friends… You can never be too careful with dementors; can never tell when they'll turn on you."

* * *

><p>They were in Remus' classroom after lunch Pansy and Daphne prettied up and giving Hermione tips on her hair while Ron and Ethan were mock duelling sending minor hexes at one another. Draco was staring at them in distain while Blaise charmed Theo's hair pink.<p>

"Can you all stop please?" Remus called and they fell silent turning to him, Sirius was lounging against the desk. "Good, now a patronus is a very advanced piece of magic; they are in their most basic form a white mist and even producing that is productive but in its most advance form it takes the form of an animal which best represents yourself much like an animagus will however patronus shapes can change with a person's attitudes, beliefs, even their loves. All you have to do is think of a happy memory. _Expecto Patronum!"_

A brilliant white light shone from Remus' wand and morphed into a shape. Harry's eyes widened as the dog ran around them before bounding up to Sirius and barking. Sirius laughed and patted its head before it vanished as if it had never been.

Harry had learnt in the summer of second year about Remus being a werewolf and how his fellow marauders had become animagi for him. It was sweet how his patronus took the shape of Sirius' animagus.

"Don't be surprised if you can't make a corporal patronus straight away it does take a lot of practise." Remus smiled at them all as he showed them the correct wand movements.

The room was quickly filled with white mist as they all tried out the new spell. Harry closed his eyes thinking of the happiest thing he could. He thought about being told that he was loved by his family for the first time, of finding Nox, of the way his stomach flipped when Draco looked at him.

"Expecto Patronum." A strong white wave erupted from his wand startling everyone for a long moment.

"Whoa Harry, what were you thinking of?" Blaise whistled once it had passed, Harry blushed madly and shrugged his gaze avoiding Draco's at all costs.

"I think that's enough for today, if any of you manage a corporal patronus come show me I'd be very interested. The other schools should be arriving in a few minutes so you might want to hurry to the entrance." Sirius laughed as Pansy and Daphne practically ran from the room. Harry was grabbed by Blaise and Draco and marched from the room as he went up to ask Remus a question about the spell.

They all hurried to the entrance and arrived just in time to see a coach led by flying horses drop out of the clouds; it glided to the Hogwarts grounds and slid to a slow stop. Harry's eyes widened as the headmistress exited the carriage. She was giant or at least half to be sure. She was as tall if not taller than Hagrid. She was followed by a group of students wearing blue school uniforms. They all walked gracefully towards the school but stopped midway as they all seemed to hear something. They turned towards the lake and Harry's eyes followed to see a grand ship rise from Hogwarts' lake. A chorus of gasps ran through the crowds and they leant forward to try and see more. The ship docked at the edge and a line of students in red robes with fur lining marched onto the shore led by a man in dark robes with a fur hat.

"That's Igor Karkaroff headmaster of Dumstrang." Draco hissed in Harry's ear. "He's one of the darkest wizards ever known of or so my Father tells me. Oh and that's Viktor Krum!"

Harry heard a number of students cry the same thing as they saw the famous quidditch star. The schools marched up the steps and met Dumbledore and the rest of the staff who were lined up waiting to greet them. The headmasters and headmistress shook hands and the schools were ushered into the school past Hogwarts own students.

"Let us all enter the Great Hall for dinner." Dumbledore called. The Hogwarts students entered first and sat at their designated tables. The Dumstrang and Beauxbatons' students then came in. Most of the Beauxbatons students sat at Ravenclaw's table and to Harry's surprise most of the Dumstrang students sat at Slytherin's. Harry's eyes widened further as Viktor Krum sat beside them.

"Hello my name is Viktor Krum." He introduced himself in his heavily accented voice. Harry stared for a moment before Draco nodded and shook the quidditch player's hand.

"Draco Malfoy." He smirked and Viktor nodded and turned to Harry.

"You are Harry Potter?" He asked and Harry nodded. "You and your brother are vell known in my country."

Viktor was then introduced to the other Slytherins. Harry found himself deep in a conversation with Bulgaria's seeker about different techniques and one move Harry had heard of called the Wronski feint, Harry wanted to try it out against Ginny, Ron's little sister who was now Gryffindor's seeker. It was easy enough to pretend that the paper this morning hadn't existed; that everything was fine and normal; that he wouldn't have to fear for his life this year.

"You're welcome to come with us to Slytherins common room if you'd like." Pansy offered Viktor and a few other Bulgarian students who had been chatting to them.

"Ve'd like that very much thank you." One of them said smiling and leaning closer to Pansy who giggled like the schoolgirl she was. Harry saw Theo roll his eyes at her antics and laughed.


	19. The Boy Who Got Chosen

Chapter Nineteen – The-Boy-Who-Got-Chosen

The goblet was plain in comparison to what Harry had been imagining; it was wooden with flames around the edges. It was surrounded by the glowing circle of Dumbledore's age line; the only thing stopping some people from entering. Two of whom were Ron's brothers. Fred and George Weasley at that moment were drinking down a concoction of theirs to make them seem a year older. They linked arms dramatically and took a step over the age line. For a moment Harry thought that they had succeeded but then both flew through the air away from the goblet, they collapsed to the floor giggling madly as long hairs sprouted from their chins. They got up a second later, took one look at the other and fell back to the floor laughing.

"I know how they feel." Krum said appearing behind Harry's shoulder with Theo and Draco. "If I vas not eighteen I vould most certainly like to enter the tournament anyways."

As he said this he stepped over the age line with ease and entered his name into the tournament. A few cheers followed and Viktor smirked, he made his way back to the crowd of Slytherins. Harry smiled as his brother came up to them followed by Hermione and Ron who was openly staring at the Bulgarian seeker.

"Hey Ethan, this is Viktor. Viktor, this is Ethan my brother and his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." Harry laughed as Ron let out a small squeak at shaking hands with _The_ Viktor Krum.

"You are related to the two vith beards?" Viktor laughed and Ron nodded.

"Only I'm not as stupid as those two." He said and Viktor's laugh grew louder.

"That is good to know." He chuckled. "Vould you all like to come out to the lake for a svim? It vas very pleasant this morning."

"In the lake?" Theo exclaimed. "It must be freezing!"

"It is nothing compared to home." Viktor laughed.

"Well, we won't be swimming but we'll come outside with you." Ethan smiled and they all made their way outside. It was a warm September day but none of them were willing to strip off like Krum did to his boxers and leap into the lake without any second thought. Harry felt goosebumps break out on his skin at just the thought.

"He's gorgeous." Pansy sighed dramatically leaning against Daphne.

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of a man." The blonde sighed back and Ethan bristled.

"Hey now, what about all of us?" He cried.

"What about all of you?" Pansy asked dryly, looking the boys up and down before glancing at Hermione. "We've not exactly chosen the calendar boys have we?"

"No we haven't." Hermione giggled; she enjoyed spending time with the Slytherins purely because it was the only time she ever got to do girl talk, the closest thing she got with Gryffindors was Ginny who was too busy gushing about Ethan to think about anyone else.

"Come now don't be mean." Draco said pouting. Harry's eyes were instantly drawn to the blonde's mouth. "All of us quidditch players have nice bodies."

"Hey!" Theo, Blaise and Ron yelled in protest.

"Hmm, I guess you're passable." Pansy leered at Harry and he rolled his eyes, it was a running joke between them since their talk about his lack of sex.

"Please, Harry's the smallest one of all of us!" Blaise called. "I'm much manlier!"

"Sure Blaise, keep telling yourself that." Ron said dryly and everyone laughed. Viktor came back up the shore to their laughter.

"Vhat are you discussing?" He asked a confused look on his face as he cast a drying charm over himself.

"Oh nothing important. Just who out of them have the best bodies." Hermione laughed at the shocked look on Krum's face.

"Vell, in my expert opinion." Everyone laughed once more. "It's true; I work with the best bodied men and vomen in the world! Vell, I vould say Ron has the best body, out of you boys of course. I alvays like my partners tall."

The red head blushed madly and looked down at the floor, Harry tilted his head interested in the boy's reaction. But it was true that Ron was the tallest out of all of them, he was even taller than Theo.

"Can we please drop this subject!" Ethan yelled. "I don't want to hear about what you all like in a person!"

"Oh come on Ethan, don't you want to know how Daphne has a think for raven haired boys?" Pansy teased cackling as Daphne hit her arm and Ethan flushed red.

"Really?" He asked the blonde who held her head high and stuck her tongue out at Harry's twin.

"Yes, but I much prefer strong tall, quidditch players from Bulgaria." She gave Viktor a fake leer and the seeker laughed loudly and deeply.

"Do you not think ve should be getting back inside?" He asked. "You might all catch a cold vith your fragile British health!"

* * *

><p>It was Thursday night. The night everyone had been waiting for, today had been the last day to enter your name in the goblet, today was the day that the champions would be picked. The goblet lit up in the middle of dinner. Dumbledore stood with a gleam in his eyes as he walked towards it. The goblet's fire flared once and a piece of paper shot out. Dumbledore caught it deftly.<p>

"Viktor Krum." He called. Harry grinned patting his newest friend on the shoulder as did many other Slytherins and Durmstrang students. The seeker stood and walked to the staff's table where he was directed into a small chamber behind it. The goblet flared once more.

"Fleur Delacour." A pretty blonde girl stood grinning from ear to ear as she was hugged by her fellow students and then she daintily made her way to the chamber.

"Cedric Diggory!" It was a tall dark haired Hufflepuff who was chosen from Hogwarts. He was followed with cheers and he made his way to the chamber. Harry clapped with the rest of them. Dumbledore nodded to the students and opened his mouth to speak when the goblet flared up once more. The hall fell silent; there were three champions, one for each school. This was impossible. A piece of paper was spat out and Dumbledore caught it looking dumbfounded.

"…Harry Potter." Harry didn't recognize his own name for a moment, then every eye in the hall turned to him and Nox tightened around his arm painfully. His eyes caught his Father's gaze, he was staring at his son with his mouth open. Harry shook his head. "Harry Potter."

He shook his head again but Draco nudged him to stand. He stumbled to his feet and hurried past all of the accusing eyes to the chamber. The champions looked up as he entered.

"Do zhey want us back in there?" Fleur asked tilting her head prettily and Harry shook his head.

"Are you alright Harry?" Viktor asked. "You are as vhite as a ghost!"

"I've….I've been chosen." He murmured his knees wobbled and Viktor gave him a steadying hand.

"You've what?" Cedric cried. "But I'm Hogwarts' champion!"

The headmasters of the schools entered and two of three were glaring at Harry. Harry's father entered next with a frown on his face.

"I was not aware Albus zhat the holding school gets an extra champion." Madam Maxime said sneering down at Harry from her great height.

"This is unprecedented Olympe I assure you." Hogwarts' headmaster said. "How did you get past my age line Harry?"

"I-I didn't Sir." Harry stammered. "I swear I didn't enter! I didn't want to!"

"Did you get an older student to put your name in?" James asked and Harry turned disbelieving eyes to his father.

"I didn't enter!" He cried. "I swear it!"

"Oh the boys svears it!" Karkaroff shouted angrily. "Then it must be true!"

"Harry vouldn't lie about this!" Viktor said angrily standing and supporting Harry even more, the raven felt like he was about to collapse. Nox squeezed around his arm comfortingly. "Vhy vould he?"

"Thank you Viktor." Harry mumbled before turning beseeching to his Father. "I didn't do it! You can ask any of my friends! I told them how stupid I thought this competition was! How dangerous it is!"

"I believe you Harry." James said softly. "But if you didn't put your name in, who did?"

A hush fell over the room.

"It doesn't matter now." Fleur said her eyes locked on Harry. "'arry 'as entered into zhee contract as 'ave we all. 'e cannot back out now."

"Unfortunately that is true." Dumbledore said. "The goblet won't reawaken for a redraw so Harry must enter the competition."

"No!" James yelled. "I will not have my son compete in something that will risk his life! He's only fourteen for Merlin's sake!"

"He has no choice!" Karkaroff barked. "None of us like this idea either. Our schools have less chance of winning now."

"I can't enter this!" Harry said shaking his head. "I really can't I don't know enough! I'll be killed!"

"Don't worry Harry, all of the trials have back up actions should anything go wrong." Dumbledore said and Harry stared at him incredulously, the man was mad! "In any case you can't refuse, you've entered into a binding contract. If you refuse to enter the trials there is a very high possibility of your magic being bound."

Harry's heart froze in his throat. He couldn't lose his magic, it was a part of him, it was what allowed him to talk to Nox, it made him, him.

"_Do it. I will watch over you Little One._" To everyone else there was just a slight hiss which could have been the fire. But to Harry it was reassuring, he straightened his back and nodded a fierce glint in his eyes which had not been there before.

* * *

><p>Harry sighed running his hand over his eyes, he was exhausted and could barely concentrate on Snape's lecture. He hadn't slept at all in the last week, too worried about what could possibly be in the first trial. He had no idea. Yawning widely he felt his eyes drop slightly, he was nudged harshly in the ribs by Draco and he snapped awake to find dark eyes fixed on him.<p>

"Mr Potter, are you well?" Snape asked and Harry nodded taking a deep breath and blinking a few times. Snape raised an eyebrow. "You will stay behind after class is over."

Harry sighed and nodded. He waited until everyone else had filtered out of the class ignoring the worried looks from his friends and Ethan who was glared out of the room by Snape. His gaze softened as he saw Harry swaying tiredly in his seat.

"Mr Potter, when was the last time you slept a full night through?" He asked sternly and Harry shrugged. "Mr Potter."

"The night before I was chosen." Harry whispered.

"That is a week without true sleep." Harry nodded his eyes trained on the grain of the desk in front of him. Snape sighed. "Why is it that all Potter's must be so stubborn? Merlin's beard boy, why did you not think to come ask for help sooner?"

"Help Sir?" Harry asked weakly but he looked up at the potions master.

"I can give you dreamless sleep potion. Even going to Madam Pomfrey would have been more productive than falling asleep in my potions lesson." Snape snapped.

"Sorry Sir." Harry mumbled.

"Don't mumble Potter." Snape rolled his eyes. "Now, how many lessons do you have left today?"

"Three Sir."

"Very well, I will give you dreamless sleep potion and you can sleep the rest of the afternoon in my office." Harry's eyes widened but at the stern look on Snape's face he nodded. He followed Snape into the office behind the classroom. It was cosier than Harry would have imagined, the professor transfigured one of the arm chairs into a bed and made Harry lie down on it, he then rifled around in his cupboard and handed Harry a light blue potion. "I will wake you in time for dinner where I expect you to eat and then go to your dormitory and sleep until tomorrow morning."

Harry nodded and drank down the potion, within seconds he felt his eyes dropping and he closed them, feeling peaceful for the first time in a week.


	20. The Boy Who Caught The Egg

Chapter Twenty – The-Boy-Who-Caught-The-Egg

"Harry! Harry!" He looked up at his name; he was on his way to the library to finish a potion's essay. Ron was running towards him, it was odd. Harry and Ron were friends yes, but more because of Ethan than anything. It was strange to see Ron coming towards him without Ethan.

"What is it Ron?" Harry frowned. "Is Ethan okay?"

"What? Oh yeah Ethan is fine. I've got to tell you though! My Mum just owled me that my older brother Charlie is coming back in the next week!"

"Okay…" Harry said slowly.

"No you don't understand!" Ron exclaimed grabbing Harry by the shoulders excitedly. "Charlie works with dragons and it's the mating season! The only time Charlie ever comes home is in the summer when the hatchlings are old enough to take care of themselves and he's coming back for just the week that the first trial is! The first trial must be to do with dragons!"

Harry's mouth dropped open before it burst into a grin and he grabbed Ron around the shoulders to hug him tightly.

"Sweet Merlin! Thank you! Oh you have no idea how much weight that takes off of me!" Harry laughed and Ron chuckled heartily as he squeezed Harry tightly.

"You still have to face a dragon though." Ron muttered and Harry froze.

"Oh yeah…"

"What's going on here?" Harry looked up at the voice to see Viktor and Draco watching them. Harry blushed as he realised that he was practically draped over Ron, he pulled away and grinned sheepishly and couldn't help but notice that Ron was pointedly not looking towards the Bulgarian.

"Ron's figured out what the first trial is!" Harry exclaimed before Ron shushed him.

"You're not meant to know! Ssh!" He hissed but Harry couldn't keep the smile off of his face.

"Vhat is it?" Viktor as frowning.

"Dragons!" Harry said.

"Really?" The seeker seemed just as surprised as Harry did. "Vhat could ve possibly do that has to do vith dragons?"

"I don't know but half of the panic is over and we can plan for most of the things that could happen!" Harry laughed. Viktor smiled but Draco still had a frown on his face. "Don't you think Draco?"

"You have to be in the same area as a dragon I refuse to be even remotely happy at that." Draco sneered and Harry rolled his eyes, Draco had been panicked and moody in equal measures since Harry's name had been drawn from the goblet. It seemed it was time for him to be moody again. Sighing Harry turned to Viktor as he continued on his way to the library with them following and began to theorise what the trial could include with Ron throwing in a few ideas. Draco was silent.

* * *

><p>"Potter!" Harry stopped in his tracks drawing Pansy and Ethan to a stop with him. Mad-Eye-Moody as he was known by most of the students was limping towards him, his electric blue eye swivelled the opposite direction to his original eye before swivelling back and staring straight at Harry with a frightening intensity.<p>

"Which one Sir?" Ethan asked.

"Harry." Moody stopped before them with a clunk.

"What is it Professor?" Harry asked.

"I need to speak with you in private Potter." Without waiting for a reply he walked off, Pansy raised an eyebrow at him before laughing and pushing him after the professor. They stopped when they reached a corridor with no one in it. Harry felt the hairs on the back on his neck stand on end when Moody spun to look at him.

"What is it you need Professor?" He asked, anxious to get away from there as soon as possible.

"What do you know of the first trial Potter?" Moody growled.

"Uh…not much Sir."

"Yes but what is it that your friends have told you?"

"…The trial contains dragons. That's all I know though Sir I swear!" Harry said and Moody chuckled.

"I'm not going to rat on you boy. If it were me I'd be doing everything possible to find out what the trials include." Moody started pacing slightly. "I'm going to give you a hint because it is unfair as to you being in this tournament; you're only fourteen after all, the other champions have three years on you."

"Oh… thank you sir."

"All I will tell you is that you should think to your strengths."

"…Potions?" Harry said after thinking for a moment, it was what he got his best grades in after all. Moody rolled his eyes and hit the floor with his wooden foot harder.

"No boy!" Moody growled taking a swig from his hip flask. "What is it that you can do that no one else in this school can match?"

It suddenly dawned on Harry what Moody was getting at.

"Flying?"

"Finally a decent thought!" Moody patted Harry's shoulder. "Don't go spreading this around boy, especially not to that Krum boy or he'll steal this idea and you'll both be marked down."

Harry frowned but nodded, he still had no idea what he could possibly do that regarded dragons and flying.

"Thank you Sir."

"Think nothing of it Potter; now get back with your friends!" Harry went as fast as he could without looking too anxious to leave.

* * *

><p>Harry felt as though he might faint at any moment. He was in the champions' tent waiting for Ludo Bagman who was the commentator for the trials and a judge along with the three headmasters and a man called Barty Crouch; Head of the International Magical Cooperation. He was supposedly quite well known in the sporting world for being a beater for the Wimbourne Wasps. Viktor was silent in his corner of the tent with his head in his hands. Harry knew not to disturb him as he panicked himself.<p>

A rustle behind him made him turn to see Draco behind him.

"Draco?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to wish you good luck." Draco whispered, he was paler than Harry himself and his face was drawn.

"I'll be fine Draco." Harry smiled reassuringly at his best friend who smiled weakly back.

"Fred and George are taking bets on who'll get the highest score." The blonde frowned. "Ethan's given you five tens already."

"Well, I'm not sure about that but I'll be okay." Draco stared deep into Harry's eyes before pulling Harry into his arms and hugging him tightly. Harry rested his head against the blonde's chest. They pulled apart when a bright light lit up the tent.

"Harry dear! Why didn't you mention that you had a sweetheart last time we met?" Harry had to held back a groan; Rita Skeeter was the worst reporter Harry had ever met; she managed to find out facts that no one should ever know and then blow them out of proportion or distort them so much that they sold in the papers.

"We aren't together." Harry said quickly, pulling away from Draco with a blush on his face.

"Oooh, a secret undying crush! Unrequited love? How do _you_ feel about this trial Draco darling?" Draco glared at the woman.

"You aren't allowed in here." He snapped.

"Neither are you darling, but you still stole your way in here." Rita laughed. Draco rolled his eyes and turned to Harry.

"I….I'll see you after." He said softly patting Harry's shoulder once before stealing out of the tent.

"Champions over here." Ludo Bagman called and Harry walked over wrapping his arms around himself tightly. "Right, today as I'm sure you can all hear by now the trial includes dragons. Each of you will reach into this bag and pull out a model of the dragon you will face; your trial includes having to steal a golden egg from your dragon that will have a nest of her own eggs."

Bagman held out the bag to Fleur.

"Ladies first."

She paled as she pulled out a spitting green dragon with the number two wrapped around its neck.

"Going out second with the Common Welsh Green." Bagman said and Fleur went even paler. "Diggory my boy?"

Cedric took a deep breath before dipping into the bag he pulled out a mean-looking dragon with a sharp nose; it had a number one around its neck. He let out his breath, he was first.

"The Swedish Short-Snout, and sorry lad but it seems you're first." Cedric nodded and sat back closing his eyes biting his lip worriedly. Bagman then held the bag out to Viktor. The Bulgarian seeker shoved his hand into the bag and withdrew a long, glowing red dragon with blue whiskers; it spat faux fire out at Viktor, it was third.

"Chinese fireball." Bagman stated before handing the bag to Harry. "Last but not least then…"

Harry brought out a vicious looking black dragon with mean yellow eyes and vicious spikes on his tail. It snarled at him.

"Hungarian horntail, nasty piece of work there!" That did nothing to put Harry's mind at ease and he stared at the tiny model as it curled up in his palm and seemingly fell asleep.

"Wait for your number to be called and then exit the tent." Ludo said winking at Harry before leaving the tent. A few minutes later a loud number one was called and Cedric stood taking a moment to calm himself down apparently, then he ran outside.

Harry blocked everything out and desperately thought through every spell he could think of to get past a dragon. The other two champions ran outside one after the other, Viktor turning back for a few moments to wish Harry luck.

"Number Four!" Harry stood, having an internal panic as he realised he had no idea what to do. Stepping outside of the tent he let his eyes adjust to the bright light for a moment, his mouth dropped open as the crowds faded to nothing at the sight of the huge horntail he was about to face. It snarled as it smelled him and snapped out its neck. Harry leapt and rolled to the side his fist clenching tighter around his wand. A lightbulb seemed to go off of in his head as what Moody has told him finally made sense.

"Accio firebolt!" Both Ethan and Harry had been given firebolts by Sirius and Remus for Christmas last year. He stood with his wand arm out waiting for seemingly nothing. He heard a few laughs in the crowd and the horntail lashed her tail out at him. He dodged once more before hearing a rushing sound. He looked up to see his broom racing towards the nest. Running as fast as he could he reached out and grabbed the broom as it reached him.

Screams sounded from behind him and he didn't wait to find out why he swung up into the air and sped trying to distract the horntail from its nest. She didn't take the bait, instead lashing out with her wide grasp. Taking to another tactic he raced as far out of reach as he could from her; she snarled as he took darting dashes at her nest. With a final roar she spread her wings with a snap and took to the air her neck stretching out to snap at him. Harry grinned and sped around; the horntail got more and more active and aggravated; letting out bursts of flame and barely grazing him.

A terrifying grating sound made Harry spin around; the chain wrapped around the horntail's leg had snapped and she was now rising into the air at an alarming rate. Harry's eyes widened as she sped towards him he dashed away not thinking of the egg, nothing mattered but getting away from the dragon.

He chanced a look back, only to let out a cry as a tail came out of nowhere and smashed into his side; he screamed at the pain, a warm wet patch appeared on his side but he ignored it and sped back towards the nest as fast as his broom could go. He reached an arm out and aimed for the glint of gold he could see. A round object attached itself to his palm and he almost cried in relief as he heard the many restraining spells being cast at the horntail. He landed heavily on the ground near enough to the champions' tent. He was levitated inside by Madam Pomfrey who quickly cast a few spells and gave him a potion to heal his cracked rib.

A few seconds later the tent burst open to reveal his Father who collected him in a tight hug.

"Idiot dragon tamers should have had reinforcing spells on those chains." He muttered into Harry's hair. Harry chuckled.

"I'm fine Dad."

"Of course you are! You're _my_ godson!" Harry looked up to see a slightly paler than normal Sirius and Remus. "Cut it quite close though! What were you thinking scaring Moony like that?"

"Sorry Remus." Harry laughed as the werewolf elbowed his partner.

"You have to go outside for your score." James said but didn't look like he was going to let go of Harry anytime soon. Sirius laughed heartily and dragged the elder Potter away. Harry met up with the other three champions and waited for his scoring. Fleur came behind Cedric who came behind Viktor. Then Harry's scores came up and he gasped, he had got a ten! He was tied with Viktor for first place.


	21. The Boy Who Realised

Chapter Twenty-One – The-Boy-Who-Realised

"Why?" Blaise whined pouting at Pansy who glared at him, he instead turned doleful eyes onto Daphne who shook her head; finally he used his last resort. "Millie?"

The larger girl shook her head.

"We need to go Blaise, so do you!" She said demandingly, "Now hurry up or we're going to miss the escort."

All of the boys in the group gave a sigh, Harry included. The Yule Ball had been announced last night in the Great Hall along with the decision to allow a Hogsmede trip that weekend, they had not be allowed as of yet this year because of the escaped prisoners and the dementors but the students would have teachers escorting them at all times. The girls insisted that they were to spend the majority of this trip 'hunting' for dress robes.

With a dejected walk they followed the girls out to Hogwarts' Entrance Hall, it was filled with third years and up of all houses. The tailoring shops would be filled to the brim today no doubt. They were all split into groups. Draco and Blaise were put with Ethan, Hermione and Ron and a few other Gryffindors while Harry and Theo were with Daphne and Pansy and a couple of Bulgarian boys including Viktor. They were to be escorted by Professor Snape.

Pansy and Daphne instantly dragged them all to Madam Malkin's where they were shown to a private fitting room due to Pansy and Daphne's status and how often they bought clothes from there.

Pansy and Daphne instantly started going on about colour schemes and two shop assistants brought out materials for show. Harry sat back with Theo and Viktor and laughed quietly at how disgruntled Snape looked at being forced into the dress shop.

Harry froze as a cold feeling swept up his spine and he saw a few of the others stiffen too. Snape stood a grim look on his face.

"You will all stay within this shop, none of you will move until I get back." He commanded and they all nodded. "Potter you and the other Slytherins know how to cast the patronus charm am I correct?"

"Yes sir, but only Daphne's got a fully formed one so far." He answered, Daphne had managed the charm one night next to the fire in the common room; a peacock had erupted from the end of her wand.

"It will have to do." With that Snape swept from the room without a backwards glance.

"Dementors." Theo whispered and Harry nodded. Harry felt the chill intensify as a white mist entered the room. Daphne stood and ran to the doorway before letting out a cry. In the main shop was a dementor; the rest of the customers were cowering behind anything they could find.

"Expecto Patronum!" Daphne yelled and her peacock flew from her wand landing and fanning out its tail feathers in a dazzling display of silver strands. Pansy, Theo and Harry cast their mists out also before running outside of the shop leaving the Bulgarians to help the shop's patrons.

Outside was a mess of panic. Everyone was either cowering in alleyways or running away. A few of the teachers they could see were casting their patronus. Harry saw Remus' dog and his Father's stag. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, neither was Snape but Harry saw a cat patronus slink past which could only have belonged to McGonagall.

"Harry get back inside!" James yelled when he saw his son. "Pettigrew must be near!"

"Where's Ethan?" Harry yelled back.

"He was going up to the shack with the rest of the Gryffindors last I saw!" Remus yelled and James swore loudly as a large group of dementors cut him off from the direction of the shack and Harry. Without thinking Harry ran towards the shack where he found the Gryffindors and Draco and Blaise casting weak patronus after weak patronus at a ring of dementors surrounding them. Harry heard Daphne scream the spell and her peacock swooped past him but there were too many dementors. They turned towards the group of Slytherins and a few of them glided over. Harry felt as though a piece of cloth was shoved down his throat. His hands were numb and his knees were weak.

_ "It would be better if Harry weren't around for Ethan."_

_._

"_Stupid, idiotic freak! You can't do anything right!"_

_._

_ "It's no wonder your parents abandoned you!"_

_._

_ "Come on Harry let's play the good boy game…"_

_._

_ "Harry, Harry, Harry!"_

Harry closed his eyes for a second swaying on his feet. Pansy and Theo caught an arm each as his les gave out.

"Harry! Think of us; think of Ethan, think of the common room! Think of Christmas! Think of Draco!" Pansy shrieked.

"Expecto Patronum!" A doe darted past them and glowed forcing back the dementors which shrieked and rushed away, taking the bad memories with them. They all turned to see Snape standing behind them panting heavily. "I told you to stay in the shop." He snapped.

"Harry!" Ethan cried running forward as his twin slumped to the ground. The doe moved forward and nuzzled him gently, he felt immeasurably better and smiled reaching up to the patronus, it shifted before darting back to its owner. He sat up with the help of his brother in time to see his Father and godfathers running towards them, led by their patronuses. James froze as he saw Snape's doe and Snape quickly let his magic dissipate and began checking over the children.

"What the _fuck_ is up with that Snape?" Sirius yelled, Snape gave him a withering look and Remus frowned at his partner.

"Sirius." He murmured.

"No! Oh Merlin that can't be true!" Sirius looked more disgruntled that Harry had ever seen him.

"Shut up Black and check over your godson. I'm going back to the village to help round up the last of the dementors." Snape snapped in a tone so icy it rivalled the feeling of having dementors around. James was standing seemingly shell-shocked, Remus went over and gently touched his arm, James snapped out of it and hurried over to his sons who were both looking worse for the wear.

"Why was Uncle Sirius so angry Dad?" Ethan asked quietly as Harry was fed some hot chocolate from a flask Remus had brought with him.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." James' voice was too fast to be convincing and it seemed even he realised this. "We need to get them back to the castle."

Remus who had been checking over the other children began to lead them away. Harry and Ethan followed but before they left they could hear Sirius ask James.

"Did you have any idea?"

* * *

><p>Harry sighed as he lay on his bed thinking about the happenings of the day, they had all retired early to bed but that had been two hours ago and now he could hear the soft noises of the other boys sleeping. Harry's mind just kept going back to Snape's patronus and Sirius' reaction to seeing it.<p>

"_You need to sssleep Little One."_ Nox was normally asleep under a heat spell by now but instead he was curled up on Harry's chest.

"_I don't understand why Sirius was so angry!_" Harry hissed.

"_It isss sssimple Little One. The dog doesss not like the Massster Sssnake, the Massster Sssnake likes the ssstag, your Sssire. That much was obvious from hisss white ssspell."_ Harry froze solid as he realised that what Nox had said was true! Snape's patronus was a doe and his Father's animal counterpart was a stag! Remus had even told him that your patronus could represent your love. It all made sense now, Harry looking back could even picture in his mind times when Snape had glanced at his Father with something Harry couldn't quite decipher, now he knew! It was longing. "_How do you feel about thisss Little One?"_

"_I don't care, I love Dad and so long as he's happy I'm happy. Plus Snape would be really cool as a step dad don't you think?"_ Nox hissed his laughter.

"_He would make a good Sssire but I am sssure that none of your nessst feels that way!"_ Harry laughed too, in parselmouths so it would be quieter.

"…Harry?" He froze at the voice. It was Draco. "Why are you still awake?"

"Sorry Draco, go back to sleep." Harry whispered and he heard a shuffling indicating Draco had rolled over, he looked over to catch silver eyes watching him.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep; Nox was just talking with me until I could. Don't worry about it." Harry whispered.

"Is this about today?" The blonde asked and Harry nodded.

"I just couldn't…."

"It's okay Harry; none of us would _ever_ let anything happen to you." Harry stopped as he realised that Draco had mistaken what he was thinking about but he didn't correct him, this was Snape's secret to keep.

"Thanks Draco… that means a lot!" Harry shot him a beaming smile before making a big motion of his yawn. "Well, I think I'm ready to sleep. See you in the morning!"

"Good night." Draco murmured and Harry kept his smile on his face as he rolled over. Tomorrow, he would talk to his Dad about Snape's patronus.

* * *

><p>Harry had tried and tried again to talk to his Dad about Snape's patronus but to no effect, after his third try James had snapped at him to leave well enough alone, so Harry had decided that he would do just that, on his Dad's side anyway. There was nothing stopping him from going directly to the source of the confrontation. So instead of talking to his Dad about it he had begun trying to get Snape and him together in a room, from causing pranks which needed a Professor's attention to getting Ethan to break down in tears at the end of a potion's class only calming down once his Father was present. Ethan had been briefed on the situation immediately (Harry had no secrets from his twin) and after some cajoling had realised that it could actually be a good thing.<p>

No one lost out on that one since for a full minute Snape and their Dad had been forced to talk, even if it wasn't about the problem and Ethan now had a reputation among the girls in Hogwarts as 'sensitive'.

"What's going on?" Harry looked up from his reading to see his Father glaring down at him; Remus and Sirius were near by watching his rapt attention. He and Ethan were at their weekly visit to their Dad's rooms.

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently.

"Why do you keep trying to get me and Snape in the same room together?" James asked sternly in what they liked to call his 'teacher voice'. Ethan promptly tried to sneak away but Sirius caught him by the collar of his jumper and pulled him back.

"We don't, those things just seem to happen." Ethan protested with a much too 'I-have-nothing-to-do-with-this' face on. It was a face both James and Sirius and occasionally Remus had used many times over the years.

"Do you realise how uncomfortable you're making Snape by doing this?" James demanded. "He even came up to me to ask me to tell you to, in his own words: 'get your addled-brain boys to grow up and stop with their idiotic scheming'."

Harry couldn't help his grin at that it was something Snape would definitely say, but he had been affected enough to actually go to James to tell them to stop- that had to be a good thing.

"We're not doing anything!" Harry protested and James glared at him.

"I don't know what stupid idea the both of you have in your head but it needs to stop now!" Harry frowned and looked at Ethan who was looking chagrined.

"Why?" Ethan gaped at him, he had just admitted to their meddling.

"Why? What do you mean? Why?" James looked gobsmacked.

"Why should we stop?" Sirius looked just as gobsmacked as James but Remus had a funny amused gleam to his eyes.

"Be…Because me and Snape don't feel that way towards each other!" James spluttered.

"Who said anything about feelings?" Harry asked innocently and James' face lit up red.

"That's what you're trying to do! Get me and Snape together!"

"Why would we be doing that?" Ethan asked grinning as he understood what Harry was trying to do. "We were just trying to get you to be friends!"

"Friends." James looked between the two of them incredulously.

"Unless of course you're looking for something more between the two of you!" Harry declared. "We'd be totally fine with that by the way! I actually like Professor Snape and _I_ think the two of you could be good together! I mean who else riles you up the way he does. It's like when you told me about Remus and Sirius getting together and Sirius annoying Remus for weeks before hand because he wanted Remus' attention!"

"I was _not_ doing that!" Sirius protested loudly as both Ethan and Remus laughed.

"So…you wouldn't care if I did, hypothetically of course, have feelings for Snape?" James asked with a frown on his face, he seemed to be thinking hard.

"Of course not. Hypothetically of course." Ethan smirked, something he was picking up from being around so many Slytherins all the time. Remus looked extremely proud of the two boys while Sirius was staring at James like he had grown another head.

"You might want to start by calling him Severus!" Harry laughed as he ducked under his Father's swatting hand; he grabbed Ethan and ran from the rooms. They both fell down laughing a few corridors away.

* * *

><p>The Yule Ball was two days away; most of Hogwarts was staying through the holidays since everyone wanted to go to the Yule Ball, only the younger years were really going home. Their dress robes had arrived a few days ago and Harry had been forced to watch a parade of all of the girls' dresses and then had been forced to try on his dress robes which unlike his old ones which were a bottle green were a deep navy blue which made his hair look inky and his skin pale but both Pansy and Daphne had been silent for a few minutes so he classed it as good.<p>

"Harry, can I talk to you for a second?" Draco asked after transfiguration. Harry nodded smiling. "Alone…" Draco glanced around at everyone else who quickly scattered.

"What is it Draco? Is everything okay?" Harry was now worried, Draco's fingers were clenched in the sleeves of his robes, a habit his mother would never have allowed and his hair was mussed as if he had been playing with it many times in the last lesson. Harry hadn't noticed if he had, he had been busy helping Theo turn a fork into a mouse.

"Yes, everything is good… you see the thing is I was thinking, well, since everyone's sort of got someone to go with, you know, to the Yule Ball with someone…"

"'arry Potter!" Harry looked away from Draco for a second to see a tall blonde from Beauxbatons standing near them leaning against a wall, Harry thought he might be related to their champion Fleur, they looked similar enough. "Eez eet possible for me to speak with you for a moment?"

"Sorry, I'm talking to my friend a second…"

"Claude, Claude Beaumont." The French boy said. "And I am sure your… friend won't mind if I steal you away for a moment."

Draco glared at the older boy who smirked. Harry frowned.

"I'll catch you later I'm sure." Harry told Claude.

"Are you sure, it won't take a second!" Claude leant in closer to Harry who blushed madly and took a step back.

"Whatever Harry! I'll see you at dinner." Without another word Draco stormed away, Harry stared after him for a long moment with a frown, wondering why Draco was angry with him.

"Good, he eez gone!" Claude leant in once more. Harry frowned, his head started to feel slightly fuzzy as the boy moved closer to him, a funny smell wafted towards him.

"W-What is it you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked biting his lip.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me?" Claude moved in even closer and Harry found he couldn't think straight, his eyes were stuck to Claude's which were such a deep blue.

"I…I, uh…" The smell increased tenfold.

"Please?" Harry blinked a few times.

"Okay, that sounds nice." He whispered. Claude grinned and leant in pressing his lips against Harry's. Harry's mind went completely blank as Claude licked his bottom lip before pulling away with a self-satisfied smirk.

"I will meet you outside of zhee hall then."

"…Yeah…" Claude left and Harry stared at the opposite wall for a while.

"Harry?" Harry snapped out of it and turned to see his Father watching him with a confused look on his face. "Where are your friends? Shouldn't you be down at dinner?"

"I…uh, yeah I should be." Harry murmured.

"Are you feeling okay? You look a bit out of it." James put his hand to Harry's head. "You don't feel warm."

"I'm not ill." Harry pushed his Dad's hand away. "I'm just a bit surprised."

"What happened?" James asked, wondering what could have made his son so out of it in a few short minutes.

"I got asked to the Yule Ball." Harry said softly.

"By who?" James was shocked. He wasn't prepared for his little boy to be going out with someone.

"Claude Beaumont, he's from Beauxbatons. He just asked me." Harry still felt a little light headed.

"From Beauxbatons! That means that he's at least sixteen! That's two years much too old! You are not allowed to go with him!" James snapped an angry look coming over his face at the thought of someone taking advantage of his son's trusting nature.

"But I already said yes." Harry said turning to face his father. "Wouldn't it be rude to tell him no now?"

"No! You will go and tell that boy straight away that you will not be going to the Yule Ball with him!" James declared.

"Go to the Yule Ball with whom?" Sirius appeared followed by Remus, both of whom were watching the interaction with frowns on their faces.

"A seventeen year old from Beauxbatons! It's ridiculous to expect a fourteen year old to go to the ball with him!" James yelled.

"Don't you think you're over reacting a bit Prongs?" Sirius asked cautiously in case James turned on him. "I mean, we both went out with seventh years when we were fourteen."

"That's different!" James shouted.

"How?" Harry asked his lips turned down.

"B-Because!" James spluttered. "You are not going with this boy and that's final!"

Harry sighed but nodded, he didn't really understand why he had said yes to the boy in the first place, but Remus and Sirius were both glaring at James disapprovingly.

"I'll tell him after dinner." Harry said. "I'm going down their now."

"I'll come with you. Remus you talk some sense into him!" Sirius pushed his partner towards his best friend before steering Harry in the direction of the Great Hall, they were both silent for a while. "You should have fought your point back there Cub."

"It's okay, I'm not that bothered." Harry said frowning.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked with a matching frown.

"I don't really know why I said yes, I think I was just a bit surprised. I don't really remember it all that well." Harry admitted sheepishly. "I'd rather go with my friends to be honest."

"What was this boy's name?" Sirius stopped walking and demanded.

"Claude, Claude Beaumont." Sirius frowned before a furious look crossed his face.

"James was bloody right! You can't go to the Yule Ball with him and not because he's seventeen!" Sirius said harshly and Harry nodded, not arguing with his godfather. "That little bastard won't know what hit him!"

Without an explanation Sirius stormed away, back in the direction of his father. Harry shrugged and made his way down to dinner, still feeling slightly out of it. He sat down among his friends without thinking and ate without any memory of the food he was eating. His friends looked over him worriedly and Draco was steadfastly glaring over at the Ravenclaw table where Claude was laughing with his friends, Harry still didn't notice.

When dinner had finished Harry left his protesting friends and made his way over to the Ravenclaw table and asked Claude if they could speak for a few minutes. Claude said something in French to his friends and they all laughed in a way which made Harry blush to the roots of his hair, Claude had obviously said something about him.

They left the Great Hall together and went a few corridors away. Claude leant in as if to kiss Harry again but Harry put his hand on the blonde's chest.

"I'm sorry Claude but I can't come to the ball with you, my Father doesn't want me going with someone so much older than myself." Harry explained, trying to look even slightly upset.

"Aww 'arry, can you not, as they say defy your father?" Claude asked and Harry shook his head.

"He really wasn't happy with me going with someone older sorry." Harry gave an apologetic smile and Claude pouted, Harry felt a wave of dizziness rush over him.

"Are you sure you will not reconsider?" He asked leaning closer, the smell was back.

"S-Sorry." Harry mumbled staring anywhere but Claude's face. "I have to go."  
>"But 'arry eet eez simple to see zhat you feel zhee same way as I do? Why fight it?" Harry suddenly found his mind completely blank, why <em>was<em> he fighting it? Surely it would be so much easier just to let Claude take him to the dance, he was feeling really sleepy, maybe Claude would take him to his parents. He swayed slightly and Claude wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders swooping in to kiss him.

"Get away from him!" Harry's eyes snapped open and he looked around dazedly for the source of the noise. James and Harry's godfathers were storming towards them; James pulled Harry away and kept a solid arm around Harry's shoulders. Harry was feeling quite tired.

"You'll get expelled for this!" Sirius hissed, close behind them.

"For what?" Claude asked with a mockingly innocent look on his face. "Surely eet eez not against the rules for two students to want to be together?"

"It is when you're using your allure to brainwash Harry." Sirius snapped, James looked too angry to speak.

"In Beauxbatons we are encouraged to embrace ourselves, all aspects of them." Claude declared raising an eyebrow. "Just because you supress your veela side does not mean that I am required to do the same. You can even go and complain to Madam Maxime, she will give you the same answer I assure you."

"Stay away from my son." James growled and Harry frowned, why was everyone yelling? He didn't understand.

"…Dad?" He began but James' arm tightened around him and he fell silent.

"We're leaving; if I see you near Harry again I _will_ make sure you never graduate." James hissed before forcing Harry away from the apparent veela. They only stopped when they were at James' rooms; Harry was forced to sit down in an armchair. He waited for James who had hurried to the kitchen; he came back with a cup of tea for both of them and sat opposite his son staring into Harry's face. Harry was too tired to even feel embarrassed under the scrutiny.

"Why are you mad?" He asked, slurring his words slightly, not that he noticed. James' eyes darkened as he heard.

"I'm mad because Beaumont was taking advantage of you." James sighed, trying to not let his anger affect his son, it wasn't his fault.

"He wasn't was he?" Harry asked, trying to think back. "I was telling him that you wouldn't let me go to the ball with him and he seemed annoyed so I was going to leave and then I felt dizzy so he helped me."

"Harry…" James sighed once more. "Claude Beaumont has veela blood within him. Now that in itself isn't a bad thing, the Black family have veela blood too. But Beaumont was using his allure on you."

"What's allure?" Harry asked frowning as his mind cleared slowly.

"It's an ability those with veela ancestors possess. It can basically make others feel an intense attraction to them and make them basically do anything they want with the person; that's what Claude was doing to you."

"Is that why I let him kiss me?" Harry's nose wrinkled. "I don't think I wanted him to kiss me."

The fury on James' face increased tenfold and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Yeah, that'd be why." His voice was tight with control.

"Can I go down to the Common room? I think Draco might be annoyed with me and I want to apologise for whatever it is I've done." Harry smiled and James nodded sighing, Sirius would have taken Claude to the headmasters for punishment and there was no chance of Harry running into him. Plus Harry's faded state of mind seemed to have disappeared and he was acting back to normal.

Harry ran down to the common room, his friends were all looking particularly angry at him for some reason and Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"What! What!" Pansy shrieked and Blaise touched her arm gently to calm her down. "How could you do that?"

"Do what?" Harry asked frowning.

"Upset Draco like that! How could you go to the yule ball with some idiotic boy from Beauxbatons!" Theo stated and Harry's frown deepened.

"But I'm not going with Claude, I'm sorry that Draco stormed away when Claude asked him to leave but I didn't want him to go and then Claude used his allure on me so I said yes and he kissed me even though I didn't want him to! And then when I went to go tell Claude I couldn't go to the ball with him he did it again!" Harry was close to tears. "Why are you all mad at me?"

"Merlin…" Blaise whispered before pulling Harry into a tight hug. "We're sorry Harry, we didn't realise."

"I didn't mean to." Harry sniffed into Blaise's shoulder and instantly found himself in the middle of a Slytherin hug. He immediately felt immeasurably better and smiled weakly at everyone. "I guess I'll be going stag to the Yule Ball."

"What's going on?" The icy voice pulled them apart; he looked up to see Draco standing at the foot of the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"Claude Beaumont is part veela." Daphne said softly.

"So? I am too." Draco snapped. "All of the Black family is."

"He used his allure on Harry." Draco's eyes snapped to Harry, whom he had been refusing to look at.

"What?"

"He used his allure on Harry to get him to go to the ball with him and to kiss him." Harry flushed embarrassed.

"I didn't want to go to the ball with him Draco." For some reason it was important for Draco to know this. "And I didn't want to kiss him."

Surprisingly Draco's features seemed to shift for a moment, a scowl formed on his face but the most alarming change were his eyes which suddenly seemed slightly more slanted and their grey colour sharpened to a silver.

"I'll kill him." Draco hissed already making for the door.

"Draco wait! Sirius has it covered! There's no need to do anything like that." Harry grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him to a halt weakly, he knew that if Draco hadn't wanted to stop for him there would have been no way he would have even slowed his moving.

"He touched you without permission." Harry had a sudden thought that Draco meant _his_ permission but that would have been ridiculous.

"Yeah, but Sirius and Dad stopped him before he could do anything really bad. Honestly Draco, I'm fine." Draco glared at him and after a moment his eyes softened and his nodded.

"You are not allowed to go through the corridors alone if Beaumont is left to roam." The way he said it made Harry think that Draco thought Beaumont was some sort of beast. He nodded to placate his friend.

"Can I go to be now, I'm tired." Harry whispered and Draco nodded looking to the other boys to see if they wanted to go to sleep now too, they would all follow later. But Draco accompanied him and watched him closely as he got into bed. Nox curled up around Harry's arm and let him know that if he had been there the 'tainted human' would never have been allowed anywhere near him, Harry let out a laugh and thanked him before closing his eyes. "G'night Draco…"

"Good night Harry."

_**A/N I swear I didn't mean for this to be a creature!fic and it won't be, Harry and Draco won't have the predestined mate thing, all it will mean that Draco when he gets really mad will have the small change to appearance like he did further up **__**ĵ and he'll be a bit more possessive of Harry than is normal!**_


	22. The Boy Who Had A Shock

Chapter Twenty-Two – The-Boy-Who-Had-A-Shock

_**Just to answer a question I was asked about Draco as a veela! Draco would react to anyone he liked like that but he only has eyes for Harry!**_

Harry stood in front of the mirror nervously; the girls had insisted that they all change separately so that everyone only saw the final effect. Blaise and Theo were already dressed, Blaise in stunningly deep ebony robes that swept the floor with a grace rarely possible. Theo had opted for a more muggle look, after being prompted by Daphne who had a squib Aunt who had introduced her to all of the wonderful muggle fashions there were, he looked rather dashing if a bit tall in his expensive black trousers and silky purple shirt left undone by three buttons, all covered by a slim three quarter sleeved jacket.

Pansy, Millicent and Daphne were dressed up to the nines, all looking stunning in their gowns. They had all done their hair and had even invited Hermione down with them to do hers too. Harry thought Hermione looked wonderful, so different from normal that everyone was sure to be shocked.

Harry on the other hand, felt rather like a child dressing in his parent's clothes. His robes were a navy blue and were shaped in a way that left his legs viewed at the front and according to Pansy 'made his arse looked particularly delectable'. He wore a plain white shirt and blue/black trousers beneath. His hair he had left because he knew that no matter how he prodded and poked at it, nothing would change.

Sighing he left the dormitories and walked down the stairs. He could hear all of his friends stop talking as he came into view.

"Wow…" Harry blushed and looked up. They were all staring at him.

"Merlin Harry!" Blaise laughed walking over and clapping his shoulder. "Never knew you were so good looking mate!"

Harry laughed nervously, Draco was watching him intently but then without saying anything he stormed from the room and up the stairs to the dormitories.

"…I guess you look better than we expected!" Pansy chuckled.

"You better watch yourself tonight Potter." Theo smirked. "Pansy's on the prowl."

"Please Alek is fulfilling my needs well enough thank you very much." Everyone groaned. All Pansy had been capable of talking about since a month ago was her new boyfriend, Viktor's best friend who had taken a great liking to her and was taking her to the ball. Theo and Blaise were going with a Ravenclaw and a girl from Beauxbatons respectively and Millicent had been asked by a Hufflepuff, something she hadn't yet lived down, since she had said yes. Draco, Daphne and Harry were the only ones without dates. Harry didn't particularly mind, after his experience with Claude he wasn't in a hurry to accept any invitations. Instead they were all going as friends.

Draco came down the stairs twenty minutes later and Harry was struck speechless. The blonde was dressed in pale blue robes of inexplicable quality that made him seem taller and they fit his broad shoulders tightly and spun around his legs to draw attention to them. His hair had been combed and left free of any gel but it seemed softer somehow and glowed with the light of the fires in the dungeons.

"Looking good Draco." Blaise laughed before sighing. "Now that we're all _finally_ ready can we please get going? _I_ have a date to pick up!"

"Go on we'll see you there!" Harry smiled as they all hurried out of the doors leaving Draco and Daphne behind with him.

"May I have the honour!" Making a mockery of the traditional pureblood method of asking someone to a ball, Daphne bent down low before grabbing their arms and tugging them after her.

The Great Hall was done up spectacularly for the event and Harry let himself get swept away in the moment. As one of the champions he was forced to have the first dance so Daphne was dancing with him for it. She led him discreetly with tugs and pushes in the right places but still allowing him the image of leading the dance. When it was done Harry realised that he hated dancing, but he hated it more when everyone was watching him.

They found their way back to Draco who was sitting with Ethan and Ron who seemed to have already ditched their dates, Pavarti and Padma Patil. Pretty enough but both were incessantly girly, Harry had never liked Pavarti after the comments she made about him in first year.

"Y-You look nice." Ethan managed to stutter out, his blush covering the whole of his face. Daphne gave him a stunning smile before grabbing Draco's hand.

"Dance with me."

Harry rolled his eyes at the blatant attention grabbing move; she wanted Ethan jealous enough to ask her to dance himself. Harry sat down with his twin who had eyes only for the pair of blondes dancing on the floor. They were rather beautiful, Harry thought, under the glowing lighting, they matched each other perfectly with an odd sort of symmetry.

"Why did she have to go with _him_!" Ron grumbled and Harry followed his line of sight to see Hermione dancing with Viktor, both seemed to be having a great time.

"Why didn't you ask him?" Harry asked grinning as Ron's mouth dropped open and he gaped at the smaller twin.

"I-I me?…Ask him! As in ask Viktor Krum to the Yule Ball?" Ron spluttered.

"Why not? You obviously like him, _everyone _can see it! And I mean _every_one!" Harry said.

"Oh yeah well if that's true why didn't you ask Malfoy to the ball?" Harry frowned.

"I did come with Draco…"  
>"Yeah, as friends, please you've been pining after each other long enough. <em>Every<em>one can tell." Ron smirked at him.

Harry couldn't speak, couldn't think past the fact that suddenly now everything made sense. How he felt tied up when he spoke to Draco, why he was so upset when Draco was mad at him or upset with him, how he find himself staring at Draco, especially his lips or the way his hair brushed his jawline. He was broken out of his reverie by the focus of his thoughts, Draco smirked at him and heat rushed through his face.

"Dance with me?" Draco smiled and Harry found it impossible to say no. He allowed himself to be dragged out onto the floor, but when they got there the previously upbeat song changed to a slow one. They stood watching each other awkwardly for a few moments.

"Uh… we can go back and dance to a different song if you want." Harry said rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Nonsense." Draco scoffed pulling Harry close to him. Harry fit perfectly beneath his chin. "We can dance to this."

It wasn't so much dancing as swaying to the music. Harry found his eyes closing as he leant against the blonde's chest letting himself be lost in the moment. It didn't matter if he liked Draco he decided, Draco didn't like him back so he would just keep it to himself. He could live with the knowledge, it was only a crush anyway, it would disappear soon enough, wouldn't it?

The song ended sooner than Harry expected and he flushed pulling himself away from Draco, Draco smiled at him as they walked back to the table. Ethan was stammering around Daphne and Ron as glaring into his glass.

The doors to the Great Hall slid open and Harry looked over curiously to see who was so late. When he saw he almost choked on his punch. It was Snape, but not like Harry had ever seen Snape. The Potion Master was wearing black robes but they were fitted rather than his usual baggy, billowing robes, plus they seemed to be made from some sort of velvet. The shirt he was wearing was visible under the collar and had been left open to the second button. His hair was free from potion fumes and was swept back into a horse tail that accentuated his sharp features. Snape's eyes narrowed and focused on the table where the Marauders were sitting. They hadn't noticed him yet.

He nudged Ethan and grinned. They made their way over discreetly so they could hear what was being said.

"Very funny." Snape spat when he reached the table.

"S-S-Snape!" James actually spat out his drink, Snape sent him a withering glare.

"I thought you were all over this childishness. Obviously I was wrong." All three Marauders were dumbstruck it seemed.

"Merlin Severus." Remus whispered, his voice slightly throaty but even Sirius didn't have anything to say about it.

"So who did it? Black? Lupin? I doubt it was you Potter since you've been avoiding me like the plague." Snape's glare could have frozen fiendfyre.

"What are you talking about? We haven't done anything!" Sirius protested finally.

"Really?" Snape retorted scathingly. "So when I arrived at my rooms early this evening and found all…and I do mean _all_ of my clothes missing aside from these monstrous robes which were oh so conveniently placed on my bed, and to top it all off my potion to protect my scalp from potion fumes was also missing. I don't even want to know how you knew my password but I want all of my clothes back _now_!"

"Snape we didn't do anything." James' voice sounded weak and he seemed to be having trouble taking his eyes off of the Potion Master. Harry let out a quiet laugh only to wish he hadn't as Snape's eyes shot over to him.

"You did this?" He snapped and Harry shook his head.

"No sir! Honestly! Me and Ethan didn't know anything about this!" Harry protested. Snape's eyes peered sharply into his own and Harry kept steady trying to prove that he wasn't lying. Snape finally sighed and seemed defeated.

"I expect my clothing back in its correct order by the time I return to my rooms." Snape snapped before storming away to where the Headmasters were seated. Harry couldn't contain his grin as McGonagall winked at him. He knew he liked her for a reason.

"Merlin." James rasped running his hand over his face.

"Dad, don't you think Snape looked great?" Ethan chimed grinning like the cat that got the canary.

"You didn't do it did you?" Remus asked and they both shook their heads.

"I think Professor McGonagall did." Harry said motioning over to where Snape seemed subject to the compliments of his colleagues.

"Go back to your friends." James said his eyes still glued to Snape's back.

Ethan laughed as Harry grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

"Ask Daphne to dance." He hissed as they slipped back onto their table. Ethan turned bright red before stutteringly asking Daphne to dance. She rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"I thought you'd never ask!" She dragged him away and Harry chuckled as he sat down beside Draco who was looking over towards Snape with a contemplative look.

"What do you think of Snape's new look then?" Harry asked grinning and Draco's eyes snapped back.

"I think he should always dress like that just to get that reaction from your Dad." He smirked and Harry glanced back to see James was still gobsmacked.

"I hopefully won't be too long until he finally admits to Snape how he feels." Harry's smile dropped. "I think he's lonely sometimes."  
>"Fancy dancing again?" Draco asked and Harry nodded, glad that this time it was an upbeat song they danced to. Harry put his newly revealed crush on Draco out of his mind, put the Triwizard tournament out of his mind and he danced away the rest of the night.<p> 


	23. The Boy Who Dove

Chapter Twenty-Three – The-Boy-Who-Dove

_Thank you so much for the reviews!_

Harry rested his head on his knitted fingers which were poised in front of the golden egg. It had been weeks and he had successfully managed to put it out of his mind despite the nagging of his friends. Now, with only a week and a half left he realised he really needed to figure out what it meant. Every time he tried to open it, it let out an ungodly shriek that made him wince. He had given up on that method and now was trying to stare the answer out of it.

"Any luck?" Harry glanced up at Blaise and shook his head. "Hmm… Maybe…" He began and Harry looked up hopefully. "Nope. I've got nothing!"

"Blaise!" Harry groaned. He needed something, anything!

"Go take a walk outside. You need some air." Blaise suggested as he flopped down on his bed. "It normally helps when you have a problem doesn't it?"

"Sure." Harry sighed he held his arm out to Nox who hissed and climbed up it winding around his bicep. He left the room leaving the egg behind.

After wandering in silence for a long while he found himself outside by the lake, there was ice at the edges and Harry toed at it moodily. He didn't want to do this competition; it wasn't his fault that someone else had put his name into the goblet. Why should he have to risk his life for some awful prank?

A gasp drew his attention to the middle of the lake near to the Dumstrang ship, Viktor's head popped up from the water and he waved. The professional seeker swam his way over and emerged from the water; it gave Harry shivers just thinking about how cold it would be.

"Hello Harry. How's it going?" Viktor asked grinning.

"Are you insane?" He demanded throwing a heating charm at Krum who just laughed and shrugged. "… Viktor?"

"Vhat is it Harry?" He asked.

"Have you… you know… had any progress with the egg?" Harry asked nervously, Viktor bit his lip before nodding. "Oh."

"Take a bath." He stated and Harry frowned before self-consciously sniffing himself. "No, no Harry! You need to take a bath to help you with the egg! I can't tell you any more than that sorry; I promised who told me that I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Thanks Viktor!" Harry grinned and ran back to the castle, so enthusiastic he didn't even wait to say goodbye. Without stopping he ran to his dormitory where the rest of the boys were lazing about. He dropped Nox off on his bed and grabbed the egg running into the bathroom. He didn't hear the Slytherins calling to ask him what the rush was. He ran the small bath they had in the corner before jumping in fully clothed to the cries of shock of his fellow Fourth years. Holding his head under the water he opened the egg.

"_Come seek us where our voices sound,_  
><em>We cannot sing above the ground,<em>  
><em>And while you're searching ponder this;<em>  
><em>We've taken what you'll sorely miss,<em>  
><em>An hour long you'll have to look,<em>  
><em>And to recover what we took,<em>  
><em>But past an hour, the prospect's black,<em>  
><em>Too late it's gone, it won't come back.<em>"

"Merlin Harry!" He was pulled out of the water harshly and found himself looking up into Draco's silver eyes.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You run in here and then try to drown yourself without a word of warning!" Draco fumed. "What's going on?"

"The egg!" Harry laughed wiping the water from his face. "It's a riddle! In merfolk language. The next task is going to be under water and they're going to steal something that's important to me!"

"Slow down Harry." Theo said. "Who's going to steal something?"

"The merfolk! I imagine Dumbledore will have something to do with it obviously but I have to go down and get whatever it is back! It's quite simple really!" Harry laughed; this was much simpler than having a race with a fifty foot long horntail belching fire.

"One problem." Draco was frowning. "You're going to be underwater! How are you going to breath?"

"Oh." Harry hadn't thought that far ahead yet. He didn't let it discourage him however and instead began to strip out of his clothes into dry ones. He didn't even notice Draco's flushed cheeks. "I'm going to the library to find something to help me breathe underwater!"

"We'll come with you." Blaise offered. "Four heads are better than one."

"Okay." Harry chimed picking up Nox once more before heading to the library.

* * *

><p>"It's useless!" He dropped his head down onto the open book in front of him. The next challenge was tomorrow and he had found nothing, his friends had found nothing. Zilch, nada. In a week and a half there was nothing in the library that could even constitute helpful.<p>

"Don't think like that!" Ethan cheered optimistically gaining six Slytherin glares his way. They had all been researching in any spare time they had when they weren't sleeping.

"What am I going to do? I don't have time to figure anything out?" Harry moaned rubbing his eyes, he was exhausted.

"I have it!" The loud shout drew the attention of the whole of the library including Madam Pince who glared at the boy who had yelled. Neville Longbottom, one of Ethan's Gryffindor friends had run into the library with a grin on his face. He slid to a stop beside them.

"You have something Nev?" Ethan grinned and the Slytherins glared at him.

"You told people!" Pansy snapped.

"We weren't getting anywhere!" Ethan snapped back.

Neville dropped a book open on the table, it fell open to a page with a questionable looking pile of slimy rats' tails.

"What's that?" Draco looked disgusted.

"Gillyweed!" Neville grinned at Harry who was busy reading the page. "When you eat the roots you grow gills and webbing between your fingers and toes! You sort of become half a fish. It wears off after a time depending on how much you eat but it would be perfect don't you see!"

"Neville I could kiss you!" Harry crowed hugging the slightly chubby boy to him excitedly before grabbing his bag and running from the library.  
>"Where are you going?" Ethan called.<p>

"I'm going to ask Snape if he has any!" Harry yelled running down to the dungeons. He slid to a stop outside of Snape's classroom and peered inside, the professor was marking papers at his desk. Harry knocked and the man looked up before beckoning him into the room.

"What can I do for you Potter?" He asked snappishly, he had been snappish ever since the Yule Ball, but on the plus side his dad had been mooning so Harry counted it as a win for Professor McGonagall.

"I was wondering Sir, if you have any Gillyweed I could use…" Snape raised an eyebrow so Harry was quick to explain. "The second challenge is under water, I need to go to where the mer-people live and to do that I need to be able to breathe under water. I thought Gillyweed would be perfect for it. I could pay for it and everything!"

Snape stared at him for a long moment his dark eyes narrowed, before he nodded.

"You're leaving it a little late aren't you?" The potion's master said dryly even as he got up to go to his ingredient's cupboard. He came back with the plant and gave it to Harry who beamed.

"We've been looking for something for a week now and this was the first thing we could find." Harry explained. "Thank you Sir."

"Don't mention it Potter." Snape went back to grading the papers. "…Is there something else you need?"

"I was just wondering…uh…will you be at the trial tomorrow?" Harry asked nervously.

"I will be making an appearance yes." Snape didn't look up as he answered.

"Oh…okay…see you there!" Harry left the room grinning, he ran to the Common room where his friends had congregated. They saw the plant and smiled, at least it wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

><p>Harry stood nervously on the edge of the lake in his swim trunks; he fiddled nervously with the roots in his hand, hopefully he had enough to last him the hour of the trial. Viktor grinned at him and winked, Harry smiled back looking towards the stands frowning, Ethan hadn't even come to see him off and that stung more than his nerves.<p>

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. Mr Potter and Mr Krum will go first followed ten seconds later by Mr Diggory and then again by Miss Delacour." Dumbledore called. Harry threw the Gillyweed into his mouth and started chewing; it tasted vile and felt like rubber.

The whistle sounded and Krum cast a spell at his head diving into the water perfectly, Harry suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe, pain stung along his necks and hands and feet and he fell over the edge of the lake. Laughter resounded around him as he slapped against the water. For a long moment it felt like he was going to drown and then, relief, he was breathing, but he was under the water. He only let the amazement swallow him for a moment before he kicked off swimming fast and strong towards the lake bed.

It was a strange world, all shimmering shadows and twisted vines of weed. He kept feeling like he was being watched and kept checking over his shoulder at the slightest disturbance in the water. After what must have been half of the hour he came across what looked like a town under the water. Knowing that that must be where the merpeople were he swum hard and fast over to it.

Faces peered out of the windows of the houses he passed but he ignored them, instead swimming over to the centre of the town. His eyes widened when he saw the four hostages tied up surrounded by merpeople.

The merpeople pointed their spears at him so he cast a boiling charm towards them, they hissed but fled. He swam over, Ethan and Hermione were tied next to each other. Cho Chang a girl from Ravenclaw was next to them and on the end was a young girl with long blonde hair that reminded Harry of Fleur.

He tried to get Ethan out of the bonds that held him and eventually just decided on a cutting charm. Within seconds Ethan was floating freely, smiling with grim determination Harry grabbed Ethan preparing to swim away when a mess of screams made him turn. It was Viktor but he had tried to transform into a shark, it had only half worked and only his head was a shark. The professional seeker tried to get Hermione out of her bonds but Harry stopped him, it looked like he would bite through her hands. He cut the girl's bonds and let Viktor take her.

Harry frowned, what if the other champions tried to do the same and hurt the other two. He decided to wait and see if they would be okay. Not two minutes later Cedric appeared with a bubble around his head. He frowned when he saw Harry who just gave a wave and smiled at him motioning for him to go. Cedric hesitated but nodded and swam away with Cho. Harry waited determined that Fleur wouldn't be long. When the blonde girl didn't appear after almost quarter of an hour Harry began to get worried. He knew his Gillyweed wouldn't last much longer so he cut the little blonde girl's bonds. The merpeople tried to stop him from taking her but he just sent another boiling charm their way.

He carried them both towards the surface only to realise when he was halfway up that he wasn't able to catch his breath, it was getting harder to move through the water. Desperately grasping towards the surface he forced himself to stay conscious. Just when it felt like his lungs would burst he broke the surface gasping for breath.

Ethan woke next to him, along with the blonde girl who floundered in the water for a second before Harry helped her stay up. He looked around and saw a boat heading his way from the shore. They managed to stay up long enough for the boat to pick them up. Madam Pomfrey was on board and she tutted over them and gave them all pepper up potions which made steam come out of their ears.

"What is she doing here?" Ethan asked Harry as they made their way back to shore.

"Viktor almost bit Hermione's arms off when he tried to get her free so I thought it would be best to wait in case Cedric and Fleur tried the same sort of charm. Fleur didn't turn up." Harry explained simply, he gave a smile to the little girl who blushed madly and looked towards the floor.

The hit the shore and Draco came flying at him, uncaring of how wet he was the blonde flung his arms around him.

"It took you long enough." He snapped.

"And what am I a wet fish?" Ethan laughed helping the little girl off the boat.

"Gabrielle!" Harry looked past Draco's shoulder as Fleur ran over, her face and arms covered in scars. She gathered the little girl into her arms. "Zhank you 'arry Potter, I will not forget zhis!"

Harry blushed and nodded pulling out of Draco's arms. He was corralled with the other contestants to a podium to get their scores. Harry gasped as he came second.

Cedric scored forty-seven points, Harry scored forty-five points, Viktor earned forty points, and Fleur came last with twenty-five points. Apparently Viktor had told Dumbledore that Harry got to the contestants first and helped him which had swayed Harry's marks. After the first two tasks, Harry and Cedric were tied for first place, with Viktor second, and Fleur third.


	24. The Boy Who Disappeared

Chapter Twenty-Four – The-Boy-Who-Disappeared

Weeks passed with nothing but school work, revising for exams and worrying about the final task. There were no clues this time; they would be told on the day what was to occur. Harry was having no luck on the Draco front either, it seemed the more he tried to ignore his feelings the more they came up at the most inopportune moments, like when he was in the changing rooms or when they were sitting particularly close on the sofa.

He refused to even entertain the thought of telling the blonde, he would be mocked for ages afterwards, Draco and Blaise were the worst in their group for bragging about who they slept with and Harry wouldn't even match up to some of the girls Draco bragged about.

So he put his attraction to the back of his mind determined that someone else would catch his fancy in time.

At that moment he was sitting in the dormitories practising his patronus charm, as he had done every morning and night after they had been attacked in Hogsmede. Blaise and Draco were lounging on their own beds; Blaise's patronus had come out as a panther one morning after breakfast while they were walking to charms. They had run to show Remus. Harry wanted a fully formed patronus and he was determined to get it if it killed him.

Ethan.

His Father.

Remus.

Sirius.

His friends.

Christmas at the Potter's for the first time.

Draco hugging him after the second trial.

A burst of white came from his wand blindingly brilliant leaving dark spots in his vision for a moment, when they cleared he gasped to see his patronus staring back at him. A dragon, similar to the horntail but slimmer, more curved around the edges and obviously smaller. It unfurled its wings and gave a silent shriek before fading.

"_I knew your white spell would be a snake."_ Nox hissed while Draco and Blaise stared at him dumbfounded.

"_It was a dragon, not a snake."_ Harry hissed back.

"_It was a type of snake."_ Nox said adamantly. "_You're mate is shocked."_

"_He's not my mate."_ Harry snapped before turning to his friends.

"I got my patronus!" He cheered.

"A dragon." Blaise said dryly. "How surprising."

"What do you mean by that?" Draco asked frowning.

"Nothing, it was surprising, I mean I was expecting a deer or something like my dad has." Harry said quickly. "I need to go show him and Remus!"

Harry fled breathing heavily, why in Merlin's name did his patronus have to practically shout out his love for Draco… love… he wasn't in love with Draco, it was just attraction, the boy was attractive that was all. It was a crush, it would disappear, it wasn't love.

"Harry what's up?" Harry realised he had stopped dead in the middle of the corridor and was just staring at the wall. Sirius had found him and gave him a worried look. "You okay kiddo?"

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine." Harry tried to smile convincingly but it fell short. "I finally made my patronus."

"Really?" Sirius exclaimed. "Cool! Show me!"

Harry swallowed nervously before casting the charm, conjuring up the dragon once more; it tilted its head at Sirius who was as gob struck as the Slytherin boys had been. The dragon nuzzled his hand before disappearing.

"A dragon…" Sirius whispered. "I don't think anyone's ever had a magical creature for their patronus form before… We need to go tell Remus!"

Without saying anymore Sirius grabbed his hand and dragged him to the rooms he shared with Remus bragging all the way about how powerful his godson obviously was and how he took after his brilliant godfather.

* * *

><p>The third trial was today. Harry's palms were moist with nerves and he kept biting at his lip. The quidditch pitch had been transformed into a massive maze, in the centre of which would be the goblet; the first one there would win. It wasn't the maze he was worried about; it was what was in it that worried him. Dumbledore had clearly said there would be a few 'surprises' hidden in it.<p>

"Good luck 'arry, may zhe best woman win." Fleur grinned at him and he smiled back his nerves calmed slightly.

"Good luck Fleur." He said softly before the whistle sounded and Cedric ran into the maze, less than a minute later the whistle blew again and he ran forward not letting himself think about anything other than getting to the centre of the maze.

He ran a long time without meeting anything and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Almost as if it had been what they were waiting for a blurred shape sprung from the hedge, within moments it had transformed into his Uncle. Harry's eyes widened massively and he ducked back as the large man reached for him.

"Come on Harry… let's play." Harry took a few deep breaths, it couldn't be his Uncle, he was in Azkaban, if it wasn't his Uncle, what could it be...? A Boggart, he had read about them in one of his DADA text books. What was the counter curse?

"Ridiculous!" He yelled and suddenly Uncle Vernon blew up like a balloon and floated away. Harry ran onwards, his heart pounding, nothing could be worse than that. Harry jumped as he heard a scream from behind him; he ran towards it, it had sounded like Fleur.

He found her face down on the floor, stunned but otherwise fine. He sent up red sparks before running on.

It seemed impossible to get through the maze; he froze when a gold mist appeared in front of him and everything turned upside down. It took him a long moment to get his bearings again but he was soon able to find his way out of the mist only to be surprised by another scream. He ran towards it again.

He gasped when he saw Viktor standing over Cedric casting the Cruciatus curse.

"Viktor stop!" The boy didn't seem to hear him, Harry ran over frowning when he saw Viktor's eyes clouded over, he was under a spell. "Stupefy!"

Viktor fell to the ground in a slump and Harry checked over Cedric who was waking slowly.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly and Cedric frowned.

"Krum was…"

"I think he was under a curse." Harry explained and the Hufflepuff nodded. "I found Fleur unconscious; something's going on in here."  
>"We should stick together to Find the cup." Cedric said. "It'll be safer that way."<p>

They ran off together. Thankfully they didn't meet anything or anyone else.

"There it is!" Harry cried running faster as he saw the centre of the maze. Cedric picked up speed beside him and they came to a stop next to the glowing cup.

"You should take it, you saved my life." Cedric said softly. Harry frowned.

"We'll both take it, Hogwarts will get the glory and we'll share the money." Harry said. "On three… one, two, three!"

The breath was sucked out of him as they were dragged by a Portkey, Harry collapsed on the hard ground hitting his head and for a few long moments everything went black. When he came too again he saw a short stout figure walking towards a cauldron set up in the middle of what Harry realised to be a graveyard.

"Cedric, we need to get out of here. We need to get back to the cup." Harry grabbed the Hufflepuff's arm. Cedric nodded his eyes wide in fear as they both tried to scramble back to the cup which had fallen a few feet away from them.

"_Kill the spare."_ The curse was hissed and the burst of green light hit Cedric in the centre of his back, the boy fell. Harry let out a cry and tried in vain to wake him. "_Bind the Potter boy."_

Harry screamed as he was suddenly flung back into a gravestone, Harry struggled wildly as he was bound there. He managed to catch sight of the name on the gravestone 'Tom Riddle Sr'. He was going to be killed by Voldemort here tonight.

The servant walked up close to him and Harry pulled back as far as possible when he recognised him as Wormtail.

"It's nice to see you again Harry… you're so much bigger than last time." The rat smirked before blasting open the grave. He levitated the bones from it into the cauldron they fell with a dry rattle that made Harry feel sick.

"_Now the blood."_ Harry tried to get away once more when Wormtail came towards him again, this time with a knife in his hand. Harry screamed as the knife was plunged into his arm, blood spouted from the wound and fell into the cauldron. Wormtail then made a pitiful whimpering sound as he stood over the cauldron. "_You will be rewarded."_

With a harsh cry he cut off his own hand, Harry let out a cry of disgust but then suddenly the cauldron started to shake and knock about and then with a blast of dark magic so strong that Harry could feel it in his bones, a figure stood from the cauldron and Harry knew who it was. Lord Voldemort.

"Give me your arm Wormtail." The dry voice hissed and Wormtail held up his stump. Voldemort grasped it uncaring of the cry of pain he elicited before he stabbed his wand into the dark mark on Wormtail's arm. Wormtail screamed and tried to pull away but Voldemort had too tight a grip on him. There was a rush of black cloaks as tens of Death Eaters appeared. With a single swoop of his wand over Wormtail's arm a new silver hand grew in the place of what had been sacrificed before Voldemort turned to his followers.

"Ah… my faithful servants have returned. After so many years of waiting." Voldemort hissed softly. "Where are my faithful Malfoys?"

"They have betrayed us all my Lord!" Harry recognised this woman as Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who had tortured Neville's parents to madness; she had escaped with Wormtail from Azkaban.

"What a shame." Voldemort sighed. "Never mind, we have something they know not of my servants. Harry Potter."

A murmur went through the Death Eaters and Harry shivered as all eyes turned to him, he was feeling weak from the blood loss but kept a firm grip on his wand, he would not let it go.

"My lord, I thought the child was Ethan Potter?" Voldemort laughed a high mockery of a chuckle.

"Yes, we were fooled. The boy had a twin that night, a twin that protected his brother before even himself when I tried to kill him." Voldemort turned to Harry and walked close, so close that Harry could see every feature on his face. "Isn't that right Harry? And then, when I tried to kill the twin a second time this dear boy jumped in front and with an act of ancient magic rebounded my curse onto me for a second time. I tell you now boy… it will not happen again."

Harry flinched away from the hand which reached for his chin; it was as cold as ice.

"Come now Harry, we are not so different, you and I. I will give you one chance… join me. Join me and we will be the greatest force this world has ever known. Refuse and I will kill you, your brother and your whole family." Harry stared at Voldemort for a long time in silence.

"Reducto!" He screamed and the bonds holding him shattered, Voldemort was thrown backwards and Harry ran, he dodged all of the curses being thrown at him desperately and threw himself down over Cedric's body. "Accio cup!"

The cup flew and he caught it, within seconds he was being dragged away from the graveyard. They landed heavily once more, cheers surrounded them. Harry's eyes filled with tears as he gripped Cedric's body, the boy was dead because of him.

A scream split the air and then there were hands trying to drag him away, he refused, Cedric was dead. He was dead!

"Harry, Harry let go! Harry you need to tell us what happened!" Harry looked up to find his Father's eyes staring into him. Harry threw himself at James and buried his head in the broad shoulder, he sobbed.

"He killed him… he killed him because of me…" Harry cried.

"Who killed him Harry, you need to tell us who!" James murmured desperately trying to sooth his son, Ethan was being held back by Remus and Sirius who were trying to control the crowds.

"Voldemort. He's back; Wormtail took my blood and brought him back." Harry sobbed. "Cedric's dead."  
>"Sshh Harry, it's okay lovely, calm down. It'll all be alright." Harry cried for long after the crowds had been removed, long after Cedric's father had collapsed in grief, long after Dumbledore stormed over demanding to know what happened. Ethan was finally let over to see him and he was passed into his twin's arms when their Father had to go with the other teachers. Madam Pomfrey directed them both to the Hospital Wing where they fell asleep in each other's arms.<p>

* * *

><p>Harry woke at the sound of the door opening. It was dark and Ethan was gone, he must have left to tell their friends what was happening, Harry looked over as Professor Moody entered the Hospital Wing.<p>

"Professor?" He asked and the blue eye swivelled to stare at him before a sick smile slid onto the man's face.

"Hello there Potter. Enjoy your visit to the graveyard?" Moody chuckled darkly and walked forward. Harry shrunk back on the bed and reached for his wand but it wasn't under his pillow, with a flash of blue light he was pinned to the bed. "My master has reawakened Potter, he won't want me to kill you… but a few scars are neither here nor there."

"Professor, why are you doing this!" Harry cried as Moody stood over him, Moody chuckled and suddenly his face began to shift and change, it became slimmer, almost gaunt, his eyes were suddenly matching, both wide and mad. When the transformation was complete a different man stood over Harry.

"Oops. I guess my polyjuice ran out." The man chuckled madly. "It doesn't matter; they won't find us where we're going!"

The man took out a necklace from beneath his shirt and reached for Harry who didn't doubt that the necklace was another Portkey.

"Help! Somebody please!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs. He knew that if he was captured again he would not be allowed to escape. "Help!"

"No one's coming boy." The man hissed reaching for Harry.

"Stupefy!" The man fell in a dead faint to the ground and Harry looked through his tears to see Remus running through the Hospital Wing to reach him. "Harry are you okay? Did he hurt you? Who was he?"

"I-I'm okay." Harry whispered, the immobilising curse had stopped when the man had fallen unconscious. "He was Professor Moody, but then he changed… h-he said he was under polyjuice."

Remus wrapped the man in bonds and sent a patronus somewhere before lifting Harry off the bed, even after four years the boy was so light that it was nothing to lift him. Remus carried him through the dark halls and too his rooms where Sirius and James were arguing over something, they fell silent when they saw Harry.

"Someone was disguised as Moody and snuck in to hurt Harry. I sent Dumbledore a patronus to let him know that I apprehended the man. He looked… I think it was Barty Crouch's son." Remus frowned as he lay the exhausted Slytherin on the couch.

"That's not possible! Barty Crouch Jr died in Azkaban years ago!" Sirius explained.

"We should discuss this somewhere else." James hissed glancing at Harry who had his eyes closed tightly and was gripping a pillow like it was a lifeline but they snapped open when he heard his father.

"Please don't go…" Harry whispered in a small voice. "I-I don't want to be alone."

"I'm not going anywhere." James whispered back pulling his son into his arms and lying down on the couch. "Don't worry Harry; I won't let anyone hurt you."

Remus and Sirius went to their bedroom after a few minutes, everything could wait until morning. They were all exhausted.

* * *

><p><strong>There will be another time skip after this chapter!<strong>


	25. The Boy Who Grew (Again)

Chapter Twenty-Five – The-Boy-Who-Grew-(Again)

**In this fanfic I've decided that Voldemort only split his soul twice, once into Nagini, and the other into Harry. It's easier and works better, so all that has to been done to kill him is kill Nagini and well… you'll see. Also sorry for the long wait but this summer has been crazy! I just started uni and this is the first time I've had a chance to do any writing!**

For a few weeks after Cedric's death and Voldemort's rebirth everything was chaotic. The children finished their exams and were then sent home early for the summer holidays. James, Remus and Sirius were barely seen they were so busy scouting down rumours. At one point Harry and Ethan, who were staying with the Weasleys didn't see their father for two weeks.

It was a hellish summer, Harry was plagued with nightmares, not only of Cedric's death but of other deaths, deaths he had not seen, but deaths that he knew happened. He was watching them through Voldemort's eyes and it terrified him to no end, he only told Nox, terrified of what anyone else would think.

When their father returned from his mission he was pale and drawn and flinched at most loud noises, but slowly things returned to a shadow of normalcy. James became the man he had always been and Remus and Sirius moved in with them at Potter Manor for safety.

It was then that he and Ethan were told of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation set up to fight Voldemort, neither of them were allowed to join no matter how much they protested.

….

The next year at school held too many bad memories for Harry, the students avoided him like the plague and he knew there were rumours going around that he killed Cedric, Cho Chang burst into tears anytime she saw him. His friends and his brother were his only comfort; they helped him through the year, comforted him after what they thought were nightmares and walked him between classes after Seamus Finnegan had tried to attack him in the halls.

It was after this attack that he had made his newest friend, Luna Lovegood. An interesting girl with long dirty blonde hair and a floaty attitude towards life, yet she saw through most things and could get to the heart of a problem in moments. She had instantly clicked with Daphne and the two had become quite close.

…..

That summer was just as bad as the first, worse still for the fact that now James knew of his visions. Harry had woken up screaming about 'not killing the children'; Voldemort had attacked a muggle nursery and killed all of the children there. He was now not allowed to sleep alone for the frequency of the attacks and Harry's nightmarish visions of them.

…

One night Harry woke and ran straight to the fire ignoring the calls of his father and brother.

"Snape! He's hurt! He was found out! We have to help him!" He screamed nearly incoherent as Ethan pulled him away from the fire with wide eyes. "WE NEED TO HELP HIM!"

"Harry there's nothing we can do now, we just have to wait." James said softly but his voice was shaking with his own emotions.

They sat up for the rest of that night, James had contacted the Order and Remus and Sirius had come down to sit with them for support. It was in the wee hours of the morning that they finally got an owl from Dumbledore, they had managed to find Snape in time, catching a few Death Eaters in the process but Voldemort had escaped. Snape was grievously injured. James had asked to have Snape stay with them throughout his recovery since he did not have anyone to look after him at home and the Order was too busy to worry about him.

Snape was unconscious for the best part of a week, he had had numerous Cruciatus and cutting hexes cast at him and he didn't react to anything when he did wake. It was all they could do to hope that he hadn't been irreparably damaged like the Longbottoms had been. Nothing they did got any reaction from him, Harry even invited the Malfoys' over to try and break him out of his stupor. It was the first time he had seen Mrs Malfoy cry when her friend wouldn't even look at her.

Harry spent long hours speaking with the unresponsive Snape, and when he ran out of things to talk about he told him about his nightmares, his visions, even the feelings he had for Draco.

It was after two weeks of this Snape that James snapped. It was at dinner and Snape had been brought down hoping to get him to eat something, he had been living off nutrition potions forced down his throat for far too long. James slammed his cutlery down making everyone jump and stare at him as he stormed over to the Potion's Master.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" James shrieked. "Answer me! Look at me dammit! This is not the Snape I know! Answer me Snivellus!"

And with that he had swooped down and kissed Snape firmly on the lips, no one knew quite how to react in the long moments after that. James pulled back a heated glare on his face as they all watched Snape closely and for the first time they saw the tiniest emotion on the potion master's face, a slight frown tugged at his forehead and his lips turned down.

"Po-Potter." Snape stuttered out weakly as he shakily climbed to his feet. The whole room held its breath.

"Severus…" James whispered in awe, his glare vanished.

"Don't call me Snivellus." Snape managed to hiss out in a weak imitation of his old snark.

Sirius burst into laughter at that and soon the whole room, aside from Snape, followed.

Snape slowly came back to his old self after that, though he did have a problem concentrating for long amounts of time on anything and he could only eat small amounts but he managed to even insult Sirius now and then which the silver eyed man could admit that he'd never thought he'd miss.

James spent a lot more time with Snape after that and one evening Harry caught them in one of the smaller parlour rooms sitting on the same sofa conversing softly. A grin lit up his face and he ran to tell Ethan. It seemed that they hadn't needed to meddle after all.

…

Sixth year started and ended much as Fifth Year had, with an increasing number of Death Eater Attacks. A devastating blow was hit to the Weasley family when they found out that Percy had joined the Dark and an even more devastating blow was hit to Blaise when his fifth step father was killed in a raid, he had been the only 'father' aside from his biological one that Blaise had allowed himself to get close to and both he and his mother were grief-stricken for weeks.

It was after this that both Harry and Ethan and their friends decided they could not sit back and watch as the world turned to ash around them. With the help of Fred and George they listened in to all of the Order meetings.

….

The war truly began in their Seventh Year.

_**That will be all until I post the sequel! Mwahahaha (Sorry but it would end up being waaaaaay too long if I left it as one story) Have no fear! It'll be posted soon hopefully!**_


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